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. The species is endemic to semiarid regions of central east Australia. Aboriginal Australians living in those regions named the snake dandarabilla. It was formally described by Frederick McCoy in 1879 and then by William John Macleay in 1882, but for the next 90 years, it was a mystery to the scientific community; no further specimens were found, and virtually nothing was added to the knowledge of this species until its rediscovery in 1972.
Based on the median lethal dose value in mice, the venom of the inland taipan is by far the most toxic of any snake – much more so than even that of sea snakes – and it has the most toxic venom of any reptile when tested on human heart cell culture. The inland taipan is a specialist hunter of mammals, so its venom is specially adapted to kill warm-blooded species. One bite possesses enough lethality to kill more than an estimated 100 fully grown humans. It is an extremely fast and agile snake that can strike instantly with extreme accuracy, often striking multiple times in the same attack, and it envenomates in almost every case.
Although the most venomous and a capable striker, in contrast to the coastal taipan, which many experts cite as an extremely dangerous snake due to its behaviour when it encounters humans, the inland taipan is usually a quite shy and reclusive snake, with a placid disposition, and prefers to escape from trouble. However, it will defend itself and strike if provoked, mishandled, or prevented from escaping. Because it lives in such remote locations, the inland taipan seldom comes in contact with people; therefore it is not considered the deadliest snake in the world overall, especially in terms of disposition and human deaths per year. The word "fierce" from its alternative name describes its venom, not its temperament.
Taxonomy
To the Aboriginal people from the place now called Goyder Lagoon in north-east South Australia, the inland taipan was called dandarabilla.
The inland taipan was first described scientifically in 1879. Two specimens of the fierce snake were discovered at the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers in northwestern Victoria and described by Frederick McCoy, who called the species Diemenia microlepidota, or small-scaled brown snake. In 1882, a third specimen was found near Bourke, New South Wales, and William John Macleay described the same snake under the name Diemenia ferox (thinking it was a different species). No more specimens were collected until 1972. In 1896, George Albert Boulenger classified both as belonging to the same genus, Pseudechis (black snakes), referring to them as Pseudechis microlepidotus and P. ferox.
In 1956, relying only on published descriptions and notes, James Roy Kinghorn regarded ferox as a synonym for microlepidotus and proposed the genus Parademansia. In 1963, Eric Worrell considered Parademansia microlepidotus and Oxyuranus scutellatus (coastal taipan, named simply "taipan" in those days) to be the same species.
In September 1972, after receiving an unclassified snake head sample from a grazier from one of the Channel Country stations west of Windorah of the far southwest Queensland, herpetologists Jeanette Covacevich (then working for the Queensland Museum) and Charles Tanner travelled to the site and found 13 living specimens, and rediscovered the lost snake Parademansia microlepidotus. In 1976, Covacevich and Wombey argued that Parademansia microlepidotus belongs to a distinct genus, and this was also the opinion of Harold Cogger.
Covacevich, McDowell, Tanner & Mengden (1981) successfully argued, by comparing anatomical features, chromosomes, and behaviours of the two species then known as Oxyuranus scutellatus (taipan) and Parademansia microlepidota, that they belonged in a single genus. Oxyuranus (1923), the more senior name, was adopted for the combined genus.