AnimalvsAnimal
🐍no photo yet

No photo yet — browse the gallery for other animals.

SpeciesElapidae
Reptiles

🐍King brown snake

Pseudechis australis (Gray, 1842)

The king brown snake is a species of highly venomous snake of the family Elapidae, native to northern, western, and Central Australia. The king brown snake is the largest terrestrial venomous snake in Australia. Despite its common name, it is a member of the genus Pseudechis and only distantly related to true brown snakes. Its alternative common name is the mulga snake, although it lives in many habitats apart from mulga. First described by English zoologist John Edward Gray in 1842, it is a robust snake up to 3.3 m (11 ft) long. It is variable in appearance, with individuals from northern Australia having tan upper parts, while those from southern Australia are dark brown to blackish. Sometimes, it is seen in a reddish-green texture. The dorsal scales are two-toned, sometimes giving the snake a patterned appearance. Its underside is cream or white, often with orange splotches. The species is oviparous. The snake is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though may have declined with the spread of the cane toad.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
None yet
Photos
None yet
Measurements
8
vs you
≈ 1/8th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2017.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
8.14 kg
Body length
2.75 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
11 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the King brown snake

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
8.14 kgrecord 2.88 kg · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Body length
2.75 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
11 yearsrecord 30 years · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
85 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Activity cycle
Cathemeral
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Venomous
Yes
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Snout–vent length
1.3 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Other figures ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female1.3 mReptTraitsv1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024)
  • Male1.03 mReptTraitsv1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024)
Volume l
8.1 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for King brown snake yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classSquamata
  4. ›familyElapidae
  5. ›genusPseudechis
  6. ›speciesPseudechis australis
Full lineage
  1. superorderLepidosauria
  2. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  3. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  4. genusPseudechis
All 12 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. superorderLepidosauria
  10. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  11. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  12. genusPseudechis
More

More about the King brown snake

In other languages
Mulgaschlange (de), Pseudechis australis (es), Serpent de la Mulga (fr), Pseudechis australis (it), мулга (bg), Pseudechis australis (pl) … and 14 more languages
Videos

No videos of the King brown snake yet.

We have 44,653 videos so far, and none of them features this animal yet.

All videos →
Tools

Compare the King brown snake

Pick a tool — the King brown snake is already selected.