The Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus, Small Scaled Snake, Fierce Snake) is native to Australia and is the most venomous land snake. It is a species of Taipan belonging to the Elapidae family. Although highly venomous, it is timid and docile, providing it is left alone.
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A bite from the Inland Taipan can contain enough venom to kill 100 human adults or 250,000 mice.The average venom yield is 44 mg, 110 mg being the largest recorded. Its venom is 200-400 times more toxic than most rattlesnakes and 50 times as toxic as a cobra. The Inland Taipan has neurotoxic venom that could potentially kill an adult human in 45 minutes. There have been no documented human fatalities; bites were treated using antivenom.
The Inland Taipan is dark tan, ranging from a rich, dark hue to a brownish olive-green, depending on season. Its back, sides and tail may be different shades of brown and grey, with many scales having a wide blackish edge. These dark-marked scales occur in diagonal rows so that the marks align to form broken chevrons of variable length that are inclined backward and downward. The lowermost lateral scales often have an anterior yellow edge. The dorsal scales are smooth and without keels. The round-snouted head and neck are usually noticeably darker than the body (glossy black in winter, dark brown in summer), the darker colour allowing the snake to heat itself while only exposing a smaller portion of the body at the burrow entrance. The eye is of average size with a blackish brown iris and without a noticeable coloured rim around the pupil. It has twenty-three rows of mid-body scales, between fifty-five and seventy divided subcaudal scales, and one anal scale. The Inland Taipan averages approximately one metre eighty (six feet) in length, although larger specimens can reach lengths of two meters (six feet eight inches).
Seasonal Adaptation
Inland Taipan adapt to their environment by changing the colour of the skin during seasonal changes. Inland Taipan tend to be lighter in summer and darker in winter. This seasonal colour change serves in thermoregulation, allowing the snake to absorb more light (thence converted to heat) in the colder months.
The Inland Taipan is native to the arid regions of central Australia, extending from the southeast part of the Northern Territory, and into west Queensland. The Inland Taipan can also be found north of Lake Eyre to the west of the split of the Murray River, Darling River and Murrumbidgee River.
Inland Taipan live in holes and feed on small rodents such as mice and rats.
The Inland Taipan consumes mostly rodents, birds and rats. They kill with quick, multiple strikes, injecting venom into their victim.
Inland Taipan produce clutches of between one and two dozen eggs. The eggs hatch two months after. The eggs are usually laid in abandoned animal burrows and deep crevices. Reproduction rate depends in part on their diet. If there is not enough food then the snake will reproduce less.
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