There are over 2500 different species of snakes all over the world. From them, a few hundred are considered to be poisonous. They bite for self defence and inject toxic venom which affects several parts of the body. Let’s read below and learn facts about the most venomous snake on Earth, The Taipan!

The Taipan!

There are three species of Taipan. Once is the coastal Taipan known as Oxyuranus Scutellatus. The inland Taipan known as Oxyuranus Microlepidotus and a recently discovered species is the Central Ranges Taipan known as Oxyuranus Temporalis. There are two sub species of Coastal Taipan which live in separate parts. Once can be found along the north eastern coast of Queensland. The second sub species is the Papuan Taipan known as Oxyuranus Scutellatus Canni which can be found in the southern coast of Papua New Guinea.

Food and growth:

The Taipan has very good eyesight than other snakes. It detects its prey through movement and smell. They intelligently flick their tongues to taste what’s in the air, hoping it would be the presence of a prey. This is transferred to the organ at the roof of the tongue and passed to the brain. A Taipan loves eating small mammals including rats and bandicoots. Sometimes, these mammals might be several cm wider than the snake itself, it can take hours for the whole eating process to complete. It first chases after the prey with its bendy muscular body. It corners the prey into a hole and bites it many times without any stops. By this stage, the venom would have paralysed the victim and it wouldn’t be able to fight back. Due to a snake having no form of teeth to break the food into pieces, it has to eat the prey whole. It can be very disturbing to see something going on like this particularly when the food is very large though snakes can do this. The Taipan does not eat often at all but they require food a few times a year depending on how large the prey is.

Venom:

The snake’s venom can kill a human in forty five minutes. It is discovered to be 200-300 times more toxic than Rattlesnakes and around 50 times more toxic than a Cobra but Antivenom can be used to treat the poison. Those who study the snake have been the most attacked by the Taipan and there haven’t been many cases of fatalities. However, it could be that attacks have occurred but were not reported. Inland Taipan has the most toxic poison of any snake species and they will strike anyone if they feel threatened though they keep away from humans at all times.

Appearance and preferred location for habitat:

The Taipan appears as a dark brown rusty colour and is widely spread across Australia. It prefers living in both the northern and western areas throughout the winter months where it stays relatively mild. A younger Taipan has lighter coloured skin but it

Breeding:

The Taipan mates between August and September. Similar to coastal Taipan’s, male inland Taipan’s engage in a competitive combat until the male wins the right to mate. If the female is open for mating, the male will rub his chin up and down her body and twists his lower body under the female.

After two months of the breeding period, the Taipan will choose to deposit eggs during mid autumn through winter and early spring, leaving summer out of their plan. The female snake abandons the eggs and they hatch 2 months later. The young can grow very fast depending on the conditions of the environment. Both males and females grow the same size. Males take 16 months to sexually mature and females at 28 months. Young Taipan’s are also a threat to humans. Never encounter them thinking they are weak, even a small bite from the baby Taipan’s is dangerously fatal to humans.

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