Slender scale taipan snake (scientific name:Oxyuranus microlepidotus）It is a reptile of Cobra family and Taipang genus, and the most toxic terrestrial poisonous snake in the world,[2]Also known as inland taipan snake.[4]The average body length is 1.8-2 meters, and the longest record is 2.5 meters.[2]The head is flat, slightly pointed, black or with black stripes;The scales of the trunk are gray to yellowish brown, sometimes with thin black edges;The trunk is brown or olive green;The abdomen is yellowish white.The head fangs are 7-13 mm long;The eyes are relatively large.[5]The service life is about 15 years.[1]
Taipang is distributed in the arid plains and grasslands of central Australia.[6]It inhabits dry plains, grasslands, deserts and dry river beds that are rarely visited by people.They often live in rat holes, deep surface cracks or hollows, and sometimes in stone cracks and wall holes.They feed on frogs, toads and small mammals.[1]When disturbed or prey, the front body will stand up in an "S" shape, and the attack speed is extremely fast.[7]Eggs are laid, about 12-20 eggs are laid each time.[1]
The tiny scale taipan is the most poisonous snake on the land,[3]It is also the fastest snake in the world.The amount of detoxification is about 20 times that of king cobra.Each time the victim is bitten, the venom discharged can poison 20 tons of prey within 24 hours, which is equivalent to the weight of two adult African elephants.[8]Listed in the Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN 2017 ver 3.1) - not at risk (LC).[9]
Originally described by McCoy in 1879 asDiemenia microlepidota, later modified asPseudonajamicrolepidota。[12]Species additionmicrolepidotusIt is named after the Greek mikros (meaning small)+lepidotos (meaning scaly), referring to the relatively small scales on its back.[11]
morphological character
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Medium to large snake with a strong body and a deep rectangular head.[12]More ordinary shapeTaipan snakeTo be small,[1]The average body length is 1.8-2 meters, and the longest record is 2.5 meters.[2]The head is flat, slightly pointed, and the eyes are relatively large. The scales are gray to yellowish brown. These scales sometimes have thin black edges.The trunk is brown or olive green, while the head is black or has black stripes. The fangs are 7-13mm long.[1]The back color varies from light fawn to yellow brown to dark brown, and the head and neck are several to many deeper than the body.The color changes with the seasons. The individual becomes deeper in winter and darker in summer.Many dorsal scales have a dark brown lower front edge, forming a broken herringbone pattern along the length of the body.The abdomen is light yellow with orange spots;This color usually extends to the lowest transverse scale.The eyes are large, the iris is dark, and the pupils are round.There were 23 lines of midbody scales, 211-250 lines of ventral scales, single lines of anal scales, and the inferior caudal segment was separated.[12]
Slender scale taipan snake
Habitat environment
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The tiny scale taipan snake lives in dry plains, grasslands, deserts and dry river beds that are rarely visited by people.They often live in rat caves (the original owners of caves are often eaten by them), deep surface cracks or hollows, and sometimes also live in stone cracks and wall holes.[1]
Slender scale taipan snake
Distribution range
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Taipang is distributed inAustralia(South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory).[9]
Distribution Map of Taipang Serpent[9]
Life habits
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behavior
The surface activity of Taipang is mainly day and night.They are most active in the first half of the morning, basking in the sun and foraging in or near deep soil cracks and animal caves for a short time, and then retreating to shelters in the rest of the day.In cool weather, it may also be active in the afternoon.[12]
When it catches prey or is disturbed, the Xilei Taipan snake will stand up with its front body in an S-shape. Its attack speed is extremely fast, almost too fast to be seen by the human eye. It is the fastest venomous snake in the world. It has been bitten by its fangs for two or three times in a row before its prey can respond.When it takes a defensive position, its body will lift off the ground.Unlike other snakes, the Xileitaipan snake will bite its prey and inject its venom when attacking.Although the poison is very strong, the character of the thin scale taipan snake is warm. If Mou doesn't catch them, they won't be easily irritated.[1]
Slender scale taipan snake
Feeding habits
Slender scale taipan snake with frogToadAnd small mammals.The tiny scale taipan snake often hunts in the dry and hard mud cracks on the river beachRodentAnd small marsupials.[1]
Slender scale taipan snake
natural enemy
Its natural enemies are vultures and foxes.The fox is cunning and sometimes extremely ferocious. Its speed is very fast. Because of its short stature, its agile claws and hard teeth become its biggest weapons.The vulture has powerful claws that cannot be despised, and a sharp mouth, making this fierce natural hunter.However, it should not be despised. When it fights with a fox or a vulture, it will bite its natural enemy with all its strength to kill it, and then it will leave in a hurry.[1]
Growth and reproduction
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Taipang is an egg laying snake, which lays about 12-20 eggs each time.It is recorded that captive individuals reach sexual maturity when the male is 16 months old and the female is 28 months old.[9]Some records show that the typical behavior of male fighting occurs at the end of winter, between two large but unmated individuals.In about half an hour of fighting, snakes intertwined, raised their heads and forebodies, and closed their mouths to "fiercely attack" each other.It is also observed that the Elaphe tenuis may mate in the wild at the end of winter.In the middle of spring (the second half of November), females with oviduct eggs can be found.The size of fossae ranged from 11 to 20 cm, with an average of 16 cm.When laying eggs, the size of eggs is 6cm × 3.5cm, and it takes 9-11 weeks to hatch at 27-30 ℃.The total length of newly hatched young snakes is about 47 cm.Under captive breeding conditions, females can give birth to two young snakes in one breeding season.[12]
Mirtschin and Davis (1985) reported that most specimens were collected from the floodplains and watercourses of the Diamantina River and Cooper Creek in Queensland.However, most of the later sightings occurred near S. Macdonald, pers. obs. Due to the lack of systematic investigation of this species, the population trend within its distribution range is still unclear.With the change of the density of the hairy mouse, the population tends to fluctuate.[9]
Threat factors
This species may be affected by the loss of rodent food sources, mainly due to the predation of non-native predators (vultures and foxes).In addition, large-scale use of watercourses to irrigate surrounding areas in the future may affect the soil structure preferred by this species and its rodent prey.[9]
Species hazards
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Toxicology
The tiny scale taipan snake is the most poisonous snake on the land.The absolute amount of its venom required for the death of the tested organism is only 0.0021 mg/kg, but the amount of detoxification can reach 125-400 mg, 300 times more toxic than the rattlesnake, about 20 times more toxic than the king cobra, on a par with the death of the hooked nose sea snake, ranking top ten in animal toxicology.Each time it bites the victim, the venom discharged by it can poison 20 tons of prey within 24 hours, which is equivalent to the weight of 250000 white mice, 100 adults or two African elephants.[1]
The types of toxins of the taipang snake are neurotoxin and cardiotoxin.Its venom molecule evolved from a protein family called natriuretic peptide excretion. In vertebrates, these peptides relax the muscles around the heart. These neurotoxins mainly act on nerve and muscle junction points, inhibit and paralyze nerve endings, and block the connection between muscles and nerves.At the beginning, the patient will suffer from headache, nausea and vomiting, followed by abdominal pain, dizziness and blurred vision. In severe cases, the patient will also have convulsions and coma, and eventually lead to respiratory paralysis.It can also cause massive bleeding, serious muscle damage and renal failure of the victim. Its toxin also contains toxic proteins that can destroy muscle tissue and prevent blood coagulation.[1]
The tiny scale taipan snake is not only the most toxic snake on land, but also injects a large amount of venom when it bites its opponent. The maximum amount of venom injected at a time can reach several hundred milligrams. The toxicity is so strong that it often loses consciousness due to the outbreak of toxicity when it attacks its prey before it loosens its mouth and its prey has died, or the prey has not yet realized that it has been hurt.[1]
Postbite symptoms
In terms of continuous attack, the Xileitaipan snake is also the fastest snake. This is because there was once a human being who was bitten by this snake. The man said that he was bitten, but during actual observation, he found that he had been bitten 3-4 times.The symptoms of being bitten by Xileitaipan snake are also different from other snakes. After being bitten by Xileitaipan snake, human blood will not solidify, but the seven holes of the bitten person will bleed slightly. After a while, the bitten person will see overlapping images of things around, and then the function of the whole body of the bitten person will slowly stop, leading to paralysis and suffocation.If the bitten person is bitten by Taipang snake, if he is not injected with Taipang snake antivenom within a few minutes and gets proper treatment, he will surely die.[1]
world record
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The most toxic snakes on land in the world:Taipan filiform is the most toxic terrestrial snake species in the world. A single venom can kill 250000 mice, with a median lethal dose of 0.025mg/kg.[13](Guinness World Records)
Viper recognition
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For different poisonous snakes, the methods of prevention and control are different.Only by correctly identifying poisonous snakes can we carry out symptomatic prevention and treatment.The symbol organ of a poisonous snake is its fangs. According to its shape, it can be divided into groove teeth and canal teeth. According to its location on the upper frontal bone, it can be divided into anterior fangs and posterior fangs;But this kind of identification is not convenient in application.Another method is to identify the snake from its shape and color spots.During field construction and tourism, once bitten by a snake, it is necessary to quickly determine whether it is a venomous snake bite.[1]
First, look at the snake shape: most poisonous snakes have triangular heads, colorful patterns on their bodies, and short and thin tails; most non-toxic snakes have oval heads, monotonous colors on their bodies, and thin and long tails.It is better to kill the snake that bites people for diagnostic reference.[1]
Second, look at the wound: there is often a pair of large and deep tooth marks on the surface of the wound bitten by a poisonous snake, or there is a pair of big tooth marks above two rows of small tooth marks, and some big tooth marks even leave broken teeth;There is no tooth mark or two rows of symmetrical small tooth marks for non-toxic snake bite.If the snake bite occurs at night and the snake shape cannot be seen clearly, and it is impossible to tell whether it is caused by a poisonous snake from the wound, do not wait for the wound condition to change to judge whether it is bitten by a poisonous snake. At this time, it must be treated as a poisonous snake bite.[1]
