Inland Taipan

The inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), also commonly known as the western taipan, small-scaled snake, or fierce snake, is a species of extremely venomous snake in the family Elapidae. It is endemic to semiarid regions of central‑eastern Australia. Aboriginal Australians living in areas where Karnic languages are spoken refer to this species as dandarabilla.

The species was formally described by Frederick McCoy in 1879 and William John Macleay in 1882, but for almost 90 years it remained poorly known to science: no additional specimens were collected and virtually nothing was added to knowledge of its biology until the species was rediscovered in 1972.

Based on the median lethal dose (LD50) of its venom in laboratory mice, the inland taipan is widely regarded as the most venomous snake in the world; its venom is substantially more toxic, drop for drop, than that of any tested sea snake. It is also considered to possess the most toxic venom of any reptile when tested on human heart cell cultures. The inland taipan is a specialised predator of mammals, and its venom is particularly adapted to killing warm-blooded prey. A single bite has been estimated to contain sufficient venom to kill more than 100 adult humans.

Despite this extreme potency, the inland taipan is usually shy and reclusive, with a generally placid disposition, and it rarely comes into contact with people because it inhabits remote areas. By contrast, the coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) is often considered the more dangerous species in practice, largely because of its behaviour when it encounters humans and its proximity to populated coastal regions. The word "fierce" in one of the inland taipan's common names refers to the strength of its venom rather than its temperament.

Taxonomy

Among the Aboriginal people from the area now known as Goyder Lagoon in north‑eastern South Australia, the inland taipan was traditionally known as dandarabilla.

The inland taipan was first described scientifically in 1879, when two specimens were collected at the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers in north‑western Victoria. Frederick McCoy described these as Diemenia microlepidota, the "small‑scaled brown snake". In 1882 a third specimen was collected near Bourke, New South Wales, and William John Macleay described it as Diemenia ferox, believing it to be a different species. No further material was collected until the 1970s.

In 1896 George Albert Boulenger transferred both taxa to the genus Pseudechis (black snakes), treating them as Pseudechis microlepidotus and P. ferox. In 1956, working solely from the published descriptions and notes, James Roy Kinghorn regarded ferox as a synonym of microlepidotus and proposed the new genus Parademansia for the species.