Inland Taipan - World's Most Venomous Snake is Not the Most Dangerous

People have been arguing over the most venomousits habit of hiding itself in areas trafficked by humans.
snakes for as long as I can remember (and I've beenMy point is, you cannot make a list of the most
keeping and researching snakes for more than 20venomous snakes in the world and refer to them as
years).the "most dangerous" snakes ... nor the opposite.
The reason there is so much dispute over the mostThey are two separate things, and they need to be
venomous snakes in the world is because peopletreated as such.
judge them by different criteria, and this inevitablyTo echo that sentiment, here's an excerpt from a
leads to arguments.Princeton University Press interview with Mark
For example, some people build their lists of the mostO'Shea, snake expert, TV personality and author of
venomous snakes by using the LD50 test. LD50the book Venomous Snakes of the World:
stands for lethal dose 50 percent. In the case of"The most dangerous snake is not the most
snake venom LD50 is a scale used to measure thevenomous. The most venomous snakes are taipans,
potency of a snake's venom. It refers to the amountAustralian brown snakes and sea snakes but they
of venom that, when given all at once, kills 50have small venom yields and few snakebites to
percent of the animals tested (mice, in this case).humans and few human fatalities in the scheme of
Other people create lists of the most venomousthings ... with that in mind I have encountered many
snakes in the world by considering the venom yield,dangerous snakes from rattlers to cobras, sea
meaning the amount of venom the snake cansnakes to desert vipers but I regard the most
produce with a given bite.dangerous snake I have encountered to be the Sri
Thus, you can probably find dozens of lists that claimLankan Russell's viper..."
to contain the "Top 10 Most Venomous Snakes" inMost Venomous Snake - Meet the Inland Taipan
the world, and many of these lists will conflict withDespite all of the semantic arguments and scientific
each other.disputes, there is one fact that most people seem to
Most Venomous Does Not Mean Most Dangerousagree on. The most venomous snake, measured by
While I'm at it, I'd like to clear up another importantthe LD50 test or any type of criteria, is the inland
point regarding venomous snakes. Many peopletaipan snake of Australia.
create lists of what they claim are the "mostThe inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus)
dangerous" snakes in the world, and they will simplypossesses the most toxic venom of any snake in
list ten of the most venomous snake as ranked bythe world. But here again, that does not necessarily
the LD50 tests mentioned above.mean that the inland taipan -- also known as the
But there is a big difference between a highlyfiece snake -- is the "most dangerous" or deadliest
venomous snake and a highly dangerous snake. Manysnake in the world. As we discussed, most venomous
snakes that are high on the venom charts are shydoes not always translate to most dangerous.
and reclusive, and therefore account for very fewIn fact, the inland taipan proves this point for me.
human fatalities. How could you put such snakes on aWorldwide, more than 40,000 people die each year
list of the world's most dangerous snakes?from venomous snakebite. But Australia only has 2 -
On the flip side of that coin, there are certain3 snakebite deaths each year. So how can a
venomous snakes that, while they do not rank in thecontinent with the world's most venomous snake,
top-ten most venomous, still account for a largethe inland taipan, have such a relatively low number
number of human fatalities each year. This might beof snakebite deaths each year? The answer, of
because that particular snake is found in highlycourse, is that the inland taipan, while highly
populated areas far from medical care, that thevenomous, is not one of the deadliest snakes in the
snake is comparatively more aggressive towardworld.
humans, or a combination of these factors.Sure, it has lethal venom with the potential to kill
A good example of this would be the saw-scaledhumans, but there is a world of difference between
viper (Echis carinatus), which accounts for a relativelypotentiality and reality. The inland taipan is the world's
high number of deaths in Sri Lanka. While it ismost venomous snake by most standards, but is by
certainly highly venomous, the saw-scaled viper doesfar NOT the world's deadliest snake.
not appear on any top-ten lists of "most venomous* You may republish this article online if you keep the
snakes." However, it accounts for more deaths thanauthor's bio below with the active hyperlinks to the
any other snake within its range, largely because ofauthor's site. Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett.