What is eats: Scorpions, insects, other rodents and some plant material Why it's awesome: The southern grasshopper mouse is a carnivore that's largely immune to scorpion venom, and howls at the ...

Grasshopper mice harbor mutations in a pain-transmitting sodium channel that allow them to prey on highly toxic bark scorpions. Jef Akst was managing editor of The Scientist, where she started as an ...