People have been arguing about the most poisonous snakes for as long as I can remember (and I’ve been saving and researching snakes for over 20 years).
The reason why there is so much dispute about the most poisonous snakes in the world is because people judge them by different criteria, and this inevitably leads to arguments.
For example, some people create their lists of the most venomous snakes using the LD50 test. LD50 means 50 percent lethal dose. In the case of snake venom, LD50 is a scale used to measure the potency of a snake’s venom. It refers to the amount of venom that, administered at one time, kills 50 percent of the animals tested (mice, in this case).
Other people create lists of the most poisonous snakes in the world considering venom yield, that is, the amount of venom the snake can produce with a given bite.
So you can probably find dozens of lists that claim to contain the “10 most poisonous snakes” in the world, and many of these lists will conflict with each other.
More poisonous does not mean more dangerous
While I’m at it, I’d like to clarify another important point regarding poisonous snakes. Many people create lists of what they claim to be the “most dangerous” snakes in the world, and will simply list ten of the most poisonous snakes based on the LD50 test rankings mentioned above.
But there is a big difference between a very poisonous snake and a very dangerous snake. Many snakes that rank high on poison lists are shy and solitary and therefore account for very few human deaths. How could you put those snakes on a list of the most dangerous snakes in the world?
On the flip side of that coin, there are certain poisonous snakes that, while not in the top ten most poisonous, still account for a large number of human deaths each year. This could be because that particular snake is in densely populated areas away from medical care, that the snake is comparatively more aggressive towards humans, or a combination of these factors.
A good example of this would be the saw-scale viper (Echis carinatus), which accounts for a relatively high number of deaths in Sri Lanka. While it is certainly very poisonous, the saw-scale viper does not appear on any of the top ten “most poisonous snakes” lists. However, it accounts for more deaths than any other snake within its range, largely due to its habit of hiding in areas of human trafficking.
My point is, you can’t make a list of the world’s most poisonous snakes and refer to them as the “most dangerous” snakes … or the opposite. They are two separate things and should be treated as such.
To echo that sentiment, here is an excerpt from a Princeton University Press interview with Mark O’Shea, snake expert, television personality, and author of the book. Poisonous snakes of the world:
“The most dangerous snake is not the most poisonous. The most poisonous snakes are the Taipans, Australian brown snakes, and sea snakes, but they have little venom production and few snake bites for humans and few human deaths in the scheme. of things … mind, I have come across a lot of dangerous snakes, from rattlesnakes to cobras, from sea snakes to desert vipers, but I consider the most dangerous snake I have encountered is the Russell’s viper from Sri Lanka … “
The most poisonous snake – Get to know the interior of Taipan
Despite all the semantic arguments and scientific disputes, there is one fact that most people seem to agree on. The most venomous snake, measured by the LD50 test or any other criteria, is the Australian outback taipan snake.
The inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) possesses the most toxic venom of all the snakes in the world. But here again, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the inland taipan, also known as the fiece snake, is the “most dangerous” or deadliest snake in the world. As we discussed, more poisonous does not always translate into more dangerous.
In fact, the taipan of the interior proves it to me. Worldwide, more than 40,000 people die each year from poisonous snake bites. But Australia only has 2-3 snakebite deaths each year. So how can a continent with the world’s most venomous snake, the Inland Taipan, have a relatively low number of snakebite deaths each year? The answer, of course, is that the inland taipan, while highly poisonous, is not one of the deadliest snakes in the world.
Sure, it has a deadly poison with the potential to kill humans, but there is a world of difference between potentiality and reality. The inland taipan is the most venomous snake in the world by most standards, but it is NOT by far the deadliest snake in the world.
* You can republish this article online by keeping the author bio below with active hyperlinks to the author’s site. Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett.