Sure, it has lethal venom with the potential to kill humans, but there is a world of difference between potentiality and reality. So how can a continent with the world's most venomous snake, the inland taipan, have such a relatively low number of snakebite deaths each year? The answer, of course, is that the inland taipan, while highly venomous, is not one of the deadliest snakes in the world. But Australia only has 2 - 3 snakebite deaths each year. Worldwide, more than 40,000 people die each year from venomous snakebite. In fact, the inland taipan proves this point for me. As we discussed, most venomous does not always translate to most dangerous. But here again, that does not necessarily mean that the inland taipan - also known as the fiece snake - is the "most dangerous" or deadliest snake in the world. The inland taipan ( Oxyuranus microlepidotus) possesses the most toxic venom of any snake in the world. Image: Inland taipan snake by Wikipedia contributor The most venomous snake, measured by the LD50 test or any type of criteria, is the inland taipan snake of Australia. Most Venomous Snake - Meet the Inland Taipanĭespite all of the semantic arguments and scientific disputes, there is one fact that most people seem to agree on. with that in mind I have encountered many dangerous snakes from rattlers to cobras, sea snakes to desert vipers but I regard the most dangerous snake I have encountered to be the Sri Lankan Russell's viper." The most venomous snakes are taipans, Australian brown snakes and sea snakes but they have small venom yields and few snakebites to humans and few human fatalities in the scheme of things. "The most dangerous snake is not the most venomous.
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To echo that sentiment, here's an excerpt from a Princeton University Press interview with Mark O'Shea, snake expert, TV personality and author of the book Venomous Snakes of the World: They are two separate things, and they need to be treated as such. My point is, you cannot make a list of the most venomous snakes in the world and refer to them as the "most dangerous" snakes. While it is certainly highly venomous, the saw-scaled viper does not appear on any top-ten lists of "most venomous snakes." However, it accounts for more deaths than any other snake within its range, largely because of its habit of hiding itself in areas trafficked by humans. This might be because that particular snake is found in highly populated areas far from medical care, that the snake is comparatively more aggressive toward humans, or a combination of these factors.Ī good example of this would be the saw-scaled viper ( Echis carinatus), which accounts for a relatively high number of deaths in Sri Lanka. On the flip side of that coin, there are certain venomous snakes that, while they do not rank in the top-ten most venomous, still account for a large number of human fatalities each year. How could you put such snakes on a list of the world's most dangerous snakes? Many snakes that are high on the venom charts are shy and reclusive, and therefore account for very few human fatalities. Many people create lists of what they claim are the "most dangerous" snakes in the world, and they will simply list ten of the most venomous snake as ranked by the LD50 tests mentioned above.īut there is a big difference between a highly venomous snake and a highly dangerous snake. While I'm at it, I'd like to clear up another important point regarding venomous snakes. Most Venomous Does Not Mean Most Dangerous Thus, you can probably find dozens of lists that claim to contain the "Top 10 Most Venomous Snakes" in the world, and many of these lists will conflict with each other. Other people create lists of the most venomous snakes in the world by considering the venom yield, meaning the amount of venom the snake can produce with a given bite. It refers to the amount of venom that, when given all at once, kills 50 percent of the animals tested (mice, in this case). In the case of snake venom LD50 is a scale used to measure the potency of a snake's venom. The reason there is so much dispute over the most venomous snakes in the world is because people judge them by different criteria, and this inevitably leads to arguments.įor example, some people build their lists of the most venomous snakes by using the LD50 test. People have been arguing over the most venomous snakes for as long as I can remember (and I've been keeping and researching snakes for more than 20 years). © 2019, Brandon Cornett | All rights reserved
Most Venomous Snakes - Meet the Inland Taipan
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