AnimalvsAnimal
Fierce Snake Oxyuranus microlepidotus🐍

Photo: XLerate · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesElapidae
Reptiles

🐍Inland taipan

Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Mccoy, 1879)

The inland taipan, 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.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
5
Photos
2
Measurements
6
vs you
≈ 1/27th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.

Population trendUnknown
Key measurements
Body mass
2.29 kg
Body length
2.5 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
18 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Inland taipan

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

Body mass
2.29 kgmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

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

Body length
2.5 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

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

Maximum lifespan
18 yearsmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

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

Activity cycle
Diurnal
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

Volume l
2.3 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 Inland taipan yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classSquamata
  4. ›familyElapidae
  5. ›genusOxyuranus
  6. ›speciesOxyuranus microlepidotus
Full lineage
  1. superorderLepidosauria
  2. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  3. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  4. genusOxyuranus
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. genusOxyuranus
More

More about the Inland taipan

In other languages
內陸太攀蛇 (zh), Tajpan pustynny (pl), Taïpan du désert (fr), Oxyuranus microlepidotus (es), kispikkelyű tajpán (hu), Inlandtaipan (de) … and 20 more languages
More photos
Fierce Snake Oxyuranus microlepidotusFierceSnakeOlive
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Scaling lab

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Tree of life

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