Sssslithering For a Bite!

By: Manhal Sultana

With just one bite, the inland taipan
has the ability to kill more than 100
humans. In pop culture, snakes are
often associated with Medusa but
this venomous animal has the ability
to do things just as deadly as turning
someone into stone! The common
name of this snake is inland taipan
Fig. 1 - Inland Taipan

and the scientific name is Oxyuranus

microlepidotus. This snake can only
be found in Australia and its colour
ranges from a yellowish-brown tone
to a dark brown shade (Fig.1).
This snake generally eats rats, mice,
and birds and they have the ability
to swallow their prey whole (Fig.2).
Out of the 3000 species of snakes in
the world, only about 375 of them
are venomous and an even smaller

Fig. 2 - Inland Taipan Eating It's Prey

number of snakes are harmful to

humans but this snake is considered
to be the deadliest of them all.

This Snakes Venom Has The Ability To Kill 250 000 Mice!
Venomous snakes have been the scientific talk for centuries as researchers are
eager to understand the reason behind their venom evolving multiple times.
Snakes use their venomous adaptation as a defense mechanism against predators
and as a way to kill their prey. Snake venom (Fig. 3) is a modified version of saliva
as it contains enzymes that are used to
digest protein. How can a single bite result
in the death of so many organisms? The
inland taipan's venom has neurotoxins to
affect the nervous system, hemotoxins to
affect the blood, and mycotoxin to affect
the muscles. When these toxins work
together, it can

result in the victim

hemorrhaging and dealing with a stroke or

Fig. 3 - Inland Taipan's Toxic Venom

heart failure. The inland taipan's venom has the ability to damage other organisms's
internal organs and it can result in paralysis which often leads to death because the
animals breathing is compromised.

The Evolution of the Venomous Adaptation

Venom first originated among toxicofera which is a clade of scaled reptiles. The
evolution of venom is partially responsible for the thousands of different species of
snakes in the world. According to scientific research, all snakes originally had the
same venom but it diverted throughout the years due to natural selection and
mutations. Some snakes even lost the ability to produce venom because of their
diet. Natural selection was an important part of the evolution of snake venom
because the snakes with a beneficial mutation were able to adapt better to the

environment and reproduce successfully. Over time, snakes venom has changed in
order to better accommodate the snake's diet. For example, the inland taipan
mainly eats mammals so its venom is specifically designed to kill warm-blooded
animals such as rats.
Fun Fact: A beheaded dead snake can bite and inject venom hours after its death!

The inland taipan's venom is a very beneficial adaptation because it allows them to
quickly kill and immobilize their prey. Venom is also used to aid in digestion because
it helps them break down food. Venom is often used as an efficient defense
mechanism against predators. Snakes consume their prey very slowly so they are
only able to eat it when it is dead. Because of this, the inland taipan's venom allows
them to quickly immobilize their target before it has the chance to escape or fight
back. Without venom, this snake would not be able to efficiently protect itself
against predators or easily kill their prey. Due to their remote environmental
conditions, (Fig. 4) it may be difficult to find a prey often so the venom allows the
snake to effortlessly and quickly kill it's victim whenever it is spotted.

Fig. 4 - The snake's remote environment makes it difficult to find food so they must
efficiently use their venom to attack prey whenever it is found.

Did you know that snake venom can be used to treat cancer?
Even though snakes are considered deadly because of their toxic venom, there are
some environmental conditions that would make this venomous adaptation no
longer favorable. The inland taipan's venom has the ability to kill one hundred men
with one bite but it can also be used to create life-saving modern medicine. This
would be a negative trait for
snakes because they would
be held captive so scientists
could extract their venom for
research. Inland taipans are
generally deemed as shy
snakes and they rarely come
in

contact

because

with

they

humans

reside

in

Fig. 5 - Lisinopril is a drug used to treat heart failure and it is

made out of snake venom.

remote locations. If these snakes lived in the same areas that humans did, they
would most likely be captured more often for scientific research. The snakes with
very toxic venom, such as the inland taipan, would be the desirable species to hold
captive as they have the lowest median lethal dose of 0.025 mg/kg. When the
inland taipan is held in captivity by humans, they are not likely to reproduce
successfully as scientists engage in dangerous new experiments to identify the
different uses for the toxins in their venom. Scientists continue to do this in the
21st century and they have been very successful in creating modern medicine. For
example, hemotoxins (Fig. 5) can be used to treat heart attacks and neurotoxins
can be used to treat brain injuries like Alzheimer's. In more recent news, the FDA
approved a drug created with venom that reduced pain sensitivity similar to

morphine but there were no side effects.

What would happen if animals were no longer affected by the toxic venom?
Another factor that would no longer
make

snake

venom

favourable

adaptation would be if animals get

resistant to it. If the inland taipan's prey
is no longer affected by the venom, the
snake would not be able to easily kill it's
prey and it may eventually die of
starvation. Venom is also used to fight off
predators so snakes would likely be
attacked and eaten more often if they do
not have a proper defense mechanism.
Fig. 6 - The taipan being held captive at
the Billabong Sanctuary

The snake's predators would not be

careful when attacking the snake

because they would not have to worry about the deadly venom. If human's get
resistant to the inland taipan's deadly weapon, they would not be very cautious
when dealing with these snakes. Also, scientists would not be very hesitant when
keeping these snakes in captivity (Fig. 6) because the snakes would not able to fight
back as efficiently.

References
https://www.australiazoo.com.au/our-animals/reptiles/venomous-snakes/fierce-snake
http://www.billabongsanctuary.com.au/inland-taipan/
http://www.thejunglestore.com/Inland-Taipan_Facts
http://www.reptilegardens.com/reptiles/snakes/venomous/snake-venom.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_taipan#Venom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_snake_venom