top 5 most venomous snakes?

[Bartman]

Im having an argument with someone about the top 5 most venemous snakes.

Could someone clariffy?

I saw on tv, which isnt a solid source, that black mambas were, and he think the inland taipan is the most.

What would the top five be?

[CamHanna]

According to the subcutaneous (under skin) LD-50 at venomdoc.com (http://www.venomdoc.com/LD50/LD50men.html) the top 5 most venomous snakes are:
Oxyuranus microlepidotus - Inland taipan - 0.0025
Pseudonaja textilis - Eastern brown snake - 0.0365
Aipysurus duboisii - Dubois's sea snake - 0.044
Pelamis platurus - Yellow bellied sea snake - 0.067
Acalyptophis peronii - Horned sea snake - 0.079

The numbers represent the dosage (mg/kg) that is lethal 50% of the time. A lower number means the venom is more dangerous.

[Lindze]

well according to this site http://www.4to40.com/QA/index.asp?counter=14&category=animal the inland tipan is the most venemous but i was always under the impression that the black mamba was.

[csolis]

Yo bartman, the snake with the most toxic venom is the hook-nosed seasnake,second is russell's viper and a close third is the inland taipan(according to the book "Snakes in Question").By the way this is carlos from work.I'll show you the book at work.see ya

[Bartman]

K thanks! Im in monday :)

[BWSmith]

The most dangerous snake is the one that kills you ;)

Most toxicity charts are vague, outdated, and only include terrestrial species.

[Gary O]

BW a friend of mine says the same thing and you can not be more right


I would hate to take a bite from any of them but if you go by most "deadly" the saw scale viper has killed more humans then any other snake I believe. If not the most people it is right up there.

[M_surinamensis]

"Most Venomous" is a foolish term anyway, there are way way too many ways to measure something so vaugue. There is toxicity... of course, different species have different positions on LD50 or LD100 charts when a different injection method is used, nobody has yet performed a truly comprehensive all encompasing LD test and many of the tests use old rather than fresh venom which can do really odd things to the toxicity... Then there are really toxic species which have such a small venom yeild as to be much less dangerous, sometimes to the point where they rank extremely high on the LD charts but aren't considered likely to cause a lethal injection in a human being... Then there are venoms which act differently when injected into different organisms, mice and rats really aren't physicologically identical to humans and of course most snakes have a venom which is going to have the strongest action in it's primary prey species... There's the speed with which venom acts too, some venoms are faster than others in the action by which death is acchieved but will test out as less toxic because of the venom amounts involved and what rodents are capable of surviving for a day (dead is dead, the LD charts don't differentiate between three minutes and twenty three hours)...

Then of course if you want to couple the danger to humans in there, which is usually a fairly major component of these discussions there's the likelyhood of encountering the animal, the likelyhood of provoking a bite, the likelyhood of provoking multiple bites and the likelyhood of getting appropriate medical care... then you can look at case numbers (i.e.- total number of bites or total number of fatalities) against percentile numbers (some of the snakes with the highest percentage of human fatalities to envenomations are almost never encountered or are unlikely to envenomate to begin with)... To expand a bit on BW's statement, you're a LOT more likely to be accidently killed by a corn snake (don't ask how) in your hand than by a taipan in Australia (Edit: unless of course you happen to be in Australia and call taipans "cornsnakes" as a kind of pet name or something). Anyone who's going to be dealing with venomous snakes has to realize that the one which needs the most respect as a potential danger is the one they're handling at that second.

Too broad a discussion to be addressed by a simple answer or list of species and a discussion too often attempted by moronic australians in bown shorts with a bad haircut on television.

[Mustangrde1]

The most deadly snake is the one you do not see.

Ld50 aside as its not the best source as I do not know of enough humans to willingly be Bitten and die to find out the true effects of venoms.

North American Snake Envenomations

Dedra R. Tolson, M.D.
Clinical Instructor/Attending Physician,
Emergency Medical Service
University of Washington Medical Center-
Madigan Army Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency Program

Incidence: Approximately 20 of the 120 snake species in the United States are venomous. Snakes inflict approximately 8,000 bites each year in the United States of which 2,000 are inflicted by venomous snakes (1). Pit vipers are responsible for the majority of North American snakebites. Since reporting of snakebites is not mandatory and many victims do not seek medical attention, it is assumed that many snakebites are not reported. Thus, the incidence of bites is probably much higher. The majority of bites occur in the southern United States during the summer months when snakes and victims are most active. Most snakebites occur on the extremities and alcohol intoxication is a common factor leading to envenomations (2). With the availability of antivenom and advances in emergent medical care, mortality rates today are below 0.5 percent (3). Approximately 5-10 deaths per year occur as a result of poisonous snake envenomation (4). Most of these occur in children and the elderly.
http://www.emedhome.com/features_archive-detail.cfm?FID=99

Who snakes bite: It has been estimated that 5 million snakebites occur worldwide each year, causing about 125,000 deaths. Snakebites are more common in tropical regions and in areas that are primarily agricultural. In these areas, large numbers of people coexist with numerous snakes. Five to ten deaths occur per year from snakebite in the United States. People provoke bites by handling or even attacking snakes in a significant number of cases in the United States. Of the estimated 45,000 snakebites per year in the United States, about 8000 are by venomous snakes.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/10707-1.asp

Based on world medicine the more deadly bites would be from third world countries with improper medical care systems. You would be far less likely to die in the United States or Australia then you would in say Africa. As to which is most venomous I would go with the King Cobra followed by Gaboon viper, Rhino viper, Puff adder and Eastern Diamond Back for potential venom yeilds maybe not in that oreder but deffinately my top 5.

[Cookie]

That would be the one eyed yogurt slinger.... If the results of the bite don't kill you they sure will leave you broke. :)

[jaracas]

if i remember rightly LD50 figures are based on rodent (mice to be precise) kills, i'm mainly into arachnids and used to use these figures years ago for research, they are near enough phased out now as alot of venom is tailored for rodents.

eg. a Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red Knee) was once classed as deadly to humans because of the effects of the venom on mice (hence the use of this spider in the movies) but now is known as being harmless to those that are not hypersensitive (i've been tagged by them myself with no *twitch twitch* lasting effects.

i have also kept 3 species of Boiga (irregularis, cyanea and dendrophila) and used to breed Zebra Finches for food.

a friend of mine said, and i agree totally, that Boiga were put on this earth to hate Herpers! lol....ya gotta love em tho

[ChurleR]

Well, Black Mambas are listed because of their extremely fast acting venom. They kill faster, even if their venom isn't necessarily more deadly per mg.

Saw-scaled vipers kill so many people because anti-venom for them is monovalent per seperate species... and on top of that they usually contain a dose of both cytotoxic and hemotoxic venom(and most bites occur in areas with little to no medical care facilities). It may not act as fast as neurotoxins but it is an incredibly potent mix.

Genus <i>Thelatornsis</i> or African Twigsnakes are also extremely dangerous because they have a cytotoxic venom similar to a Boomslang, but there is no known antivenom for it.