---
title: "What the sources say about the Inland Taipan | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "46 claims from the Inland Taipan profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Inland Taipan (*Oxyuranus microlepidotus*)

> 46 claims from the Inland Taipan profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Inland Taipan](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/inland-taipan/)

## Inland Taipan, Oxyuranus microlepidotus. Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/reptiles/inland-taipan/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Rated the most toxic venom of any snake in lab tests on mice | The venom of the Inland Taipan is extremely potent and is rated as the most toxic of all snake venoms in LD50 tests on mice. |
| carried by a shy snake whose handful of known bite victims all survived | this species is actually quite shy ... To date only a handful of people have ever been bitten by this species, and all have survived |
| The whole venom is rated the most toxic of any snake's in LD50 tests on mice | The venom of the Inland Taipan is extremely potent and is rated as the most toxic of all snake venoms in LD50 tests on mice. |
| is rated the most toxic of any snake's in LD50 tests on mice | The venom of the Inland Taipan is extremely potent and is rated as the most toxic of all snake venoms in LD50 tests on mice. |
| Inland taipans average around 2 metres in total length | Average size 2m (total length). |
| the largest on record reached 250 centimetres | The largest total length recorded is 250cm. |
| The species lives on the deep cracking-clay floodplains of the Channel Country, in south-west Queensland and north-east South Australia, and ventures onto nearby stony gibber plains and dunes where there is cover. | Inland Taipans are associated with the deep cracking-clays and cracking-loams of the floodplains, however they also venture onto nearby gibber plains, dunes and rocky outcrops if cover is available. ... The species occurs in the Channel country of south-western Queensland and north-eastern South Australia. (note: 'stony' glosses 'gibber' (the Australian word for a stone-covered plain) for the audience.) |
| It shelters in soil cracks, holes and mammal burrows. | The snakes shelter in soil cracks and crevices, and in holes and mammal burrows. |
| Deep cracking-clay floodplains, gibber plains and dunes of the Channel Country, spanning south-west Queensland and north-east South Australia | Inland Taipans are associated with the deep cracking-clays and cracking-loams of the floodplains, however they also venture onto nearby gibber plains, dunes ... The species occurs in the Channel country of south-western Queensland and north-eastern South Australia. |
| In the wild the inland taipan appears to feed entirely on small to medium-sized mammals, particularly the long-haired rat, along with house mice | In the wild Inland Taipan appear to feed entirely on small to medium-sized mammals, particularly the Long-haired Rat Rattus villosisimus, as well as the introduced House Mouse Mus musculus and various small dasyurids. |
| Long-haired rats, house mice, and small dasyurid marsupials such as the kultarr | particularly the Long-haired Rat Rattus villosisimus, as well as the introduced House Mouse Mus musculus and various small dasyurids |
| It usually corners prey in a burrow or soil crack before biting several times in quick succession; the venom acts so rapidly that the snake can afford to hold on instead of releasing its prey and waiting for it to die | Prey is usually cornered in a burrow or soil crack before being bitten several times in quick succession. The venom acts so rapidly that the snake can afford to hold on to its prey instead of releasing (to avoid injury) and waiting for it to die. |
| a "spreading factor" enzyme speeds up how fast the venom is absorbed | the venom contains a ‘spreading factor’ (hyaluronidase enzyme) that increases the rate of absorption. |
| yet no one it is known to have bitten has died | To date only a handful of people have ever been bitten by this species, and all have survived (note: the museum page is undated (footer copyright 2026, newest reference 2008); Billabong Sanctuary, also undated, says the same: 'There are actually NO recorded human fatalities from the bite of an inland taipan!') |
| it raises the front of its body into a low S-shaped curve as a warning display, and will strike if the warning is ignored | it makes a threat display by raising its forebody in a tight low S-shaped curve with its head facing the offender. Should the offender choose to ignore the warning the Inland Taipan will strike, making a single bite or several quick bites. |
| Despite that venom, the inland taipan is shy. | this shy serpent is relatively placid and rarely encountered in its remote, semi-arid homeland |
| many reptile keepers regard it as a placid snake to handle | many reptile keepers regard it as a placid snake to handle |
| Its colour darkens in winter and fades in summer | Colour changes seasonally, with individuals becoming darker in winter and fading in summer. |
| presumably helping it warm up quickly in the cold and avoid overheating in the heat | The seasonal change in body colouration presumably helps the Inland Taipan to warm up quickly during the cooler months (dark colour) and avoid overheating in the warmer months (pale colour). (note: the source's 'presumably' is kept.) |
| In LD50 tests on mice, a standard lab measure of a venom's lethal dose, yes: the Australian Museum says it is rated the most toxic of all snake venoms. | The venom of the Inland Taipan is extremely potent and is rated as the most toxic of all snake venoms in LD50 tests on mice. |
| The same museum calls the inland taipan far from the most dangerous snake, and a shy, relatively placid one that people rarely meet. | Often cited as the world’s most venomous snake, the Inland Taipan is far from the most dangerous. Unlike its congener, the common and fiery-tempered Coastal Taipan, this shy serpent is relatively placid and rarely encountered in its remote, semi-arid homeland. |
| Not on record. The Australian Museum says only a handful of people have ever been bitten by this species, and every one of them survived. | To date only a handful of people have ever been bitten by this species, and all have survived |
| The Australian Museum records its colour changing with the seasons: individuals become darker in winter and fade in summer. | Colour changes seasonally, with individuals becoming darker in winter and fading in summer. |
| The museum's explanation comes with a "presumably": the dark colour helps the snake warm up quickly in the cooler months, and the pale colour helps it avoid overheating in the warmer ones. | The seasonal change in body colouration presumably helps the Inland Taipan to warm up quickly during the cooler months (dark colour) and avoid overheating in the warmer months (pale colour). |
| Top of the Toxicity Tests | The venom of the Inland Taipan is extremely potent and is rated as the most toxic of all snake venoms in LD50 tests on mice. |
| Cornering Rats in Their Burrows | particularly the Long-haired Rat Rattus villosisimus ... Prey is usually cornered in a burrow or soil crack |
| Life in the Channel Country | The species occurs in the Channel country of south-western Queensland and north-eastern South Australia. |
| Rarely Seen, Rarely Aggressive | this shy serpent is relatively placid and rarely encountered in its remote, semi-arid homeland |
| raises the front of its body into a low S-shaped curve as a warning display, and will strike if the warning is ignored | it makes a threat display by raising its forebody in a tight low S-shaped curve with its head facing the offender. Should the offender choose to ignore the warning the Inland Taipan will strike, making a single bite or several quick bites. (note: vibe.reason (women artists)) |

## Inland Taipan. Sydney Zoo.

https://sydneyzoo.com/animals/inland-taipan

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Sydney Zoo gives their weight as 1.5 to 3 kilograms and their lifespan as 12 to 20 years | WEIGHT 1.5 - 3kg ... LIFESPAN 12 - 20 years (note: the zoo does not say whether the lifespan is wild or captive, so none is claimed.) |
| weightKg: 1.5 | WEIGHT 1.5 - 3kg (note: bottom of the range; Light class across the whole range) |

## Inland Taipan. Billabong Sanctuary.

https://www.billabongsanctuary.com.au/inland-taipan/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| LD50 is the standard lab measure of how little venom it takes to kill half a group of test mice: the smaller the number, the more toxic the venom. | The accepted standard for comparing the toxicity of snake venoms was devised in the 1970s by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratory (CSL) in Melbourne. Tests were done by injecting live mice and measuring the amount of venom required to kill 50% of test animals, yielding a number called LD50 (or Lethal Dose 50): the smaller the number, the more toxic the venom. |
| Billabong Sanctuary, a Queensland wildlife park, gives the inland taipan's LD50 as 0.025 milligrams per kilogram | The LD50 of the Inland Taipan is 0.025mg/kg. (note: attributed to the park because no institution source in the cache states the figure; the park's page names its Reptiles of North Queensland exhibit.) |
| one at Australia Zoo lived past 20 | An inland taipan at Australia Zoo lived to be over 20 years old! |
| small carnivorous marsupials such as the kultarr | Alternate prey includes small to medium-sized mammals such as the kultarr (a small carnivorous marsupial) and the introduced house mouse. |
| In years when plague rats are plentiful the snakes grow quite fat; when the rats are scarce, they lose weight or switch to other prey. | the inland taipan adapts to these variations by becoming quite fat during years of abundance and losing weight or changing to different prey animals in years when plague rats are scarce |

## Martin, Stella (ed.) (2004). Very venomous but ... not necessarily deadly (Tropical Topics, No. 80). Queensland Environmental Protection Agency.

http://www.wettropics.gov.au/site/user-assets/docs/80VeryVenomousBut.pdf

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Its bite carries enough venom, by one calculation, to kill more than 100 average-sized men | It has been calculated that there is enough venom in just one bite of an inland taipan to kill more than 100 men of average size. |
| A 2004 Queensland government newsletter put the inland taipan's venom at almost four times as toxic as the coastal taipan's, yet placed the coastal taipan at the top of Australia's most dangerous snakes, because the inland taipan lives in a sparsely populated area, is shy and lacks long fangs. | Although the venom of the inland taipan is almost four times as toxic as that of its cousin, the coastal taipan, when all other factors are taken into account it is the coastal taipan which tops the list of Australia’s most dangerous snakes. That is because the inland taipan lives in a sparsely populated area, is shy and does not have long fangs or deliver a large amount of venom. (note: 2004 is the reference's publication year (Tropical Topics No. 80, Queensland EPA); the ranking is attributed and dated rather than stated as current.) |
| dangerLevel: Deadly | It has been calculated that there is enough venom in just one bite of an inland taipan to kill more than 100 men of average size. (note: capability tier: no known bite has been fatal, but one bite could kill) |

## Hodgson, Dal Belo & Rowan (2007). The neuromuscular activity of paradoxin: A presynaptic neurotoxin from the venom of the inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus). Neuropharmacology.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2007.01.002

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Paradoxin, a presynaptic neurotoxin that stops nerve endings releasing the signal that makes muscles contract | paradoxin (PDX), a presynaptic neurotoxin from the venom ... prior to blocking evoked release of acetylcholine (note: 'the signal that makes muscles contract' explains acetylcholine for the audience; the abstract's PDX abolished indirect (nerve-evoked) twitches.) |
| One of its toxins is paradoxin, a presynaptic neurotoxin, meaning it acts on the nerve ending: it stops the nerve releasing the chemical signal that makes a muscle contract. | paradoxin (PDX), a presynaptic neurotoxin from the venom ... prior to blocking evoked release of acetylcholine (note: 'the chemical signal that makes a muscle contract' explains acetylcholine for the audience.) |
| Researchers who tested it in 2007 wrote that it appears to be one of the most potent toxins of its kind yet discovered, if not the most potent | PDX exhibits all the pharmacology associated with beta-neurotoxins, and appears to be one of the most potent, if not the most potent beta-neurotoxin yet discovered. (note: 'toxins of its kind' paraphrases 'beta-neurotoxin'; the source's hedge ('appears') is kept, and 2007 is the paper's publication year, dating 'yet discovered'.) |

## Crachi, Hammer & Hodgson (1999). The effects of antivenom on the in vitro neurotoxicity of venoms from the taipans Oxyuranus scutellatus, Oxyuranus microlepidotus and Oxyuranus scutellatus canni. Toxicon.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0041-0101(99)00118-x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In lab tests on chick muscle, inland taipan venom stopped nerve-driven twitches faster than coastal or Papuan taipan venom, mainly by blocking the muscle's own receptors for the nerve's signal. | Venom (10 microg/ml) from all three snakes abolished nerve-mediated twitches of the chick biventer cervicis muscle preparation with the following rank order of potency (based on the time taken to inhibit 90% of the twitch response; t90): O. microlepidotus (27+/-3 min) > O. scutellatus (42+/-3 min) = O. S. canni (48+/-5 min). This inhibitory effect of all three venoms was primarily postsynaptic in origin as evidenced by the inhibition of responses to exogenous acetylcholine (ACh; 1 mM) and carbachol (CCh; 20 microM) (note: 'faster' paraphrases a shorter t90 (time to 90% inhibition); a smaller t90 is a faster-acting venom in this assay. 'mainly by blocking the muscle's own receptors' is 'primarily postsynaptic in origin', shown by blocked responses to applied acetylcholine.) |
| In laboratory nerve-muscle tests, yes. In a 1999 study on chick muscle, inland taipan venom took 27 minutes to cut nerve-driven twitches by 90%, against 42 minutes for coastal taipan venom and 48 for Papuan taipan venom. | Venom (10 microg/ml) from all three snakes abolished nerve-mediated twitches of the chick biventer cervicis muscle preparation with the following rank order of potency (based on the time taken to inhibit 90% of the twitch response; t90): O. microlepidotus (27+/-3 min) > O. scutellatus (42+/-3 min) = O. S. canni (48+/-5 min). (note: 1999 is the reference's publication year; 'cut nerve-driven twitches by 90%' is t90, 'the time taken to inhibit 90% of the twitch response'.) |

## Chester & Crawford (1982). In vitro coagulant properties of venoms from Australian snakes. Toxicon.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0041-0101(82)90014-9

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In test tubes the venom also activates prothrombin, a blood-clotting protein, without the helper molecules some other Australian snake venoms need | Venoms of Notechis scutatus, Tropidechis carinatus and Pseudechis porphyriacus require phospholipid, calcium and factor V to maximally activate normal prothrombin. Venoms of Pseudonaja textilis and Oxyuranus microlepidotus activate both normal prothrombin and the decarboxy form and do not require co-factors. (note: 'in test tubes' carries the paper's in vitro scope; 'helper molecules' glosses 'co-factors'.) |

## Wilson et al. (2018). Oxyuranus microlepidotus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T42493150A42493160.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-1.rlts.t42493150a42493160.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |