Taipans are snakes of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Oxyuranus'' in the

elapid Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "sea-fish") is a family (biology), family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus ...

family. They are large, fast-moving, extremely venomous, and endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Three

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

are recognised, one of which, the coastal taipan, has two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. Taipans are some of the deadliest known snakes.

Taxonomy

The common name, taipan, was coined by anthropologist Donald Thomson after the word used by the Wik-Mungkan Aboriginal people of central Cape York Peninsula,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The Wik-Mungkan people used the name in reference to an ancestral creator being in Aboriginal Australian mythology known as the Rainbow Serpent. The genus name is from Greek ὀξῠ́ς (''oxys'': sharp, needle-like) and οὐρανός (''ouranos'': an arch, specifically the vault of the heavens), and refers to the needle-like anterior process on the arch of the palate, which Kinghorn noted separated the genus from all other elapids. The oft-quoted meaning "sharp-tailed" (based on a confusion with οὐρά, ''oura'', "tail", and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

'' anus'') is both etymologically and morphologically incorrect. The three known species are the coastal taipan (''Oxyuranus scutellatus''), the

inland taipan The inland taipan (''Oxyuranus microlepidotus''), also Common name, commonly known as the western taipan, small-scaled snake, or fierce snake,White, Julian (November 1991)''Oxyuranus microlepidotus'' "Neurotoxic paralysis usually takes 2-4 hours ...

(''O. microlepidotus''), and a recently discovered third species, the Central Ranges taipan (''O. temporalis''). The coastal taipan has two subspecies: the coastal taipan (''O. s. scutellatus''), found along the northeastern coast of Queensland, and the Papuan taipan (''O. s. canni''), found on the southern coast of New Guinea. A 2016 genetic analysis showed that the speckled brown snake (''Pseudonaja guttata'') was an early offshoot of a lineage giving rise to the taipans, with the Central Ranges taipan being an offshoot of the common ancestor of the inland and coastal taipans.

Species

Diet

Their diet consists primarily of small

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s, especially rats and bandicoots.

Venom

Species of this genus possess highly neurotoxic venom with some other toxic constituents that have multiple effects on victims. The venom is known to paralyse the victim's

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

and clot the blood, which then blocks

blood vessel Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many Animal, animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the Tissue (biology), tissues of a Body (bi ...

s and uses up clotting factors. Members of this genus are considered to be among the most venomous snakes in the world based on their murine , an indicator of the toxicity on

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

. The inland taipan is considered to be the most venomous snake in the world and the coastal taipan, which is arguably the largest Australian venomous snake, is the third-most venomous snake in the world. The Central Ranges taipan has been less researched than other species of this genus, so the exact toxicity of its venom is still not clear, but it may be even more venomous than the other taipan species. Apart from venom toxicity, quantities of venom delivered should also be taken into account for the danger posed. The coastal taipan is capable of injecting a large quantity of venom due to its large size. In 1950, Kevin Budden, an amateur

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

, was one of the first people to capture a taipan alive, although he was bitten in the process and died the next day. The snake, which ended up dying a few weeks later, was the first known taipan to have been milked for venom: Melbourne zoologist David Fleay and Dr. F. C. Morgan performed the milking, and the venom was used to develop an antivenom, which became available in 1955. The original preserved specimen is currently stored in the facilities of Museums Victoria. Two antivenoms are available: CSL polyvalent antivenom and CSL taipan antivenom, both from CSL Limited in Australia. In his book ''Venom'', which explores the development of a taipan antivenom in Australia in the 1940s and 1950s, author Brendan James Murray states that only one person is known to have survived an ''Oxyuranus'' bite without antivenom: George Rosendale, a Guugu Yimithirr person bitten at Hope Vale in 1949. Murray writes that Rosendale's condition was so severe that nurses later showed him extracted samples of his own blood that were completely black in colour. Temperament also varies from species to species. The inland taipan is generally shy, while the coastal taipan can be quite aggressive when cornered and actively defends itself.

References

External links

* Barnett, Brian.
Keeping and Breeding the Coastal Taipan ''(Oxyuranus scutellatus)''
" ''Journal of the Victorian Herpetological Society,'' 10 (2/3), 1999 (pages 38–45).
"Coastal Taipan,"
the Australian Reptile Online Database, www.arod.com.au
"Inland Taipan,"
the Australian Reptile Online Database, www.arod.com.au {{Authority control Reptiles of Western Australia Snakes of Australia