The inland taipan is considered to be the most venomous snake in the world and the coastal taipan, which is arguably the largest Australian venomous snake, is the third-most venomous snake in the world. Members of this genus are considered to be among the most venomous snakes in the world based on their murine LD 50, an indicator of the toxicity on mice. The venom is known to paralyse the victim's nervous system and clot the blood, which then blocks blood vessels and uses up clotting factors. Species of this genus possess highly neurotoxic venom with some other toxic constituents that have multiple effects on victims. Their diet consists primarily of small mammals, especially rats and bandicoots. canni), found on the southern coast of New Guinea.Ī 2016 genetic analysis showed that the speckled brown snake ( Pseudonaja guttata) was an early offshoot of a lineage giving rise to the taipans, with the Central Ranges taipan being an offshoot of the common ancestor of the inland and coastal taipans. scutellatus), found along the northeastern coast of Queensland, and the Papuan taipan ( O. The coastal taipan has two subspecies: the coastal taipan ( O. microlepidotus), and a recently discovered third species, the Central Ranges taipan ( O. The three known species are the coastal taipan ( Oxyuranus scutellatus), the inland taipan ( O. The oft-quoted meaning 'sharp-tailed' (based on a confusion with οὐρά, oura, 'tail', and Latin anus) is both etymologically and morphologically incorrect. The genus name is from Greek ὀξῠ́ς ( oxys: sharp, needle-like) and οὐρανός ( ouranos: an arch, specifically the vault of the heavens), and refers to the needle-like anterior process on the arch of the palate, which Kinghorn noted separated the genus from all other elapids. The Wik-Mungkan people used the name in reference to an ancestral creator being in Aboriginal Australian mythology known as the Rainbow Serpent. The common name, taipan, was coined by anthropologist Donald Thomson after the word used by the Wik-Mungkan Aboriginal people of central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.

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