Tim Fitzgerald, MFA, CMI

The original sketch for this infographic was made at a ‘SciArt Meetup’ event at the Florida Museum of Natural History (color and graphical details added afterwards). The graphics on the left include a breakdown of the time period and geographical location of the ancient animal’s existence.

This is an image of conotoxin and an inset of how it affects a voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC). Conotoxin is a peptide toxin created by a tropical marine snail ( Conus victoriae ). Aside from VGCCs, the toxin also targets voltage-gated sodium channels, voltage-gated potassium channels, and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Conotoxins are being explored as an option for pain-relief therapy.