Most venomous snake -Dupe

The most venomous snake in the world is the small-scaled land snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), which measures 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) and is found mainly in the Diamantina River and Cooper Creek drainage basins in Queensland and western New South Wales, Australia. In a single strike, this snake can inject 60 mg of venom, sufficient to quickly kill a small marsupial in seconds, but also more than enough to wipe out several human adults. The average venom yield after milking is 44 mg (0.00155 oz) but one male specimen yielded 110 mg (0.00385 oz), enough to kill 250,000 mice or 125 men. Fortunately O. microlepidotus only lives in the arid deserts of central eastern Australia and no human death has been reported from its bite. Consultant's note: despite one of its common names being 'inland taipan' this snake is only related to the taipan, but is a very distinct species housed in a totally separate genus from the taipan, hence ‘small-scaled snake’ is a more commonly used name for it nowadays. Unlike most snakes, Oxyuranus microlepidotus is a specialist mammal hunter so its poison is specially adapted to knock out warm-blooded furry creatures. The most deadly component is a neurotoxin that immobilises by paralysis. It basically scrambles the body's nerves that carry electrical signals around the body. The neurotoxin acts at the point where nerves join to muscles, called the neuro-muscular junction. The toxin binds to the ends of the nerves, blocking electrical activity and shutting down communication between the brain and muscles. As the poison spreads the victim experiences headache, nausea, vomiting, pain in the belly and dizziness. Blurred vision follows, sometimes accompanied by convulsions and, in severe cases, coma. The neurotoxin (like many other snake venoms) is also a myotoxin, meaning it eats away at muscle tissue. The urine of a bite victim often turns reddish-brown as their muscles dissolve and are passed through the kidneys. In fact, the kidneys are often badly damaged by filtering so much tissue debris out of the blood and kidney failure is a common complication in serious snake-bites and a frequent cause of death. Internal bleeding is the other major complication of bites. The snake's second main toxin is a procoagulant which prevents blood-clotting by removing the body's supply of its natural blood clotting agent, fibrinogen. This causes persistent bleeding from the bite site and can lead to more serious, sometimes fatal, internal haemorrhaging, especially in the brain. Some consider the next three most venomous snakes to be 2. Common brown snake 3. Taipan 4. Tiger snake