Fierce Snake

Open encyclopedia reference

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. It is endemic to semiarid regions of central‑eastern Australia. Aboriginal Australians living in areas where Karnic languages are spoken refer to this species as dandarabilla. The species was formally described by Frederick McCoy in 1879 and William John Macleay in 1882, but for almost 90 years, it remained poorly known to science; no additional specimens were collected and virtually nothing was added to knowledge of its biology until the species was rediscovered in 1972. Based on the median lethal dose (LD50) of its venom in laboratory mice, the inland taipan is widely regarded as the most venomous snake in the world; its venom is substantially more toxic, drop-for-drop, than that of any tested sea snake. It is also considered to possess the most toxic venom of any reptile when tested on human heart cell cultures.

Wikipedia contributors, Inland taipan; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:56:06.107403+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Mccoy, 1879)

Name authority

(Mccoy, 1879)

Common name

Fierce Snake

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Elapidae

Genus

Oxyuranus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
12. familyElapidae
13. subfamilyHydrophiinae
14. genusOxyuranus
15. speciesOxyuranus microlepidotus (Mccoy, 1879)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Oxyuranus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 276 records assigned to Elapidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Oxyuranus&species=microlepidotus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4BMPM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.