Oxyuranus microlepidotus (MCCOY, 1879)

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Higher Taxa	Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Fierce Snake, Inland Taipan G: Schreckensotter, Kleinschuppenschlange, Australischer Inlandtaipan
Synonym	Diemenia microlepidota MCCOY 1879 Diemenia ferox MACLEAY 1882: 812 Pseudechis ferox — BOULENGER 1896 Pseudechis microlepidotus — BOULENGER 1896: 332 Parademansia microlepidota — KINGHORN 1955 Oxyuranus microlepidotus — COVACEVICH et al. 1981 Oxyuranus scutellatus microlepidotus Oxyuranus microlepidotus — WELCH 1994: 97 Oxyuranus microlepidotus — COGGER 2000: 662 Oxyuranus microlepidotus — MATTISON 2007: 260 Oxyuranus microlepidotus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 521 Oxyuranus microlepidotus — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Distribution	Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria) Type locality: "junction of Murray and Darling," [Rivers, northwestern Victoria, Australia].
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Lectotype, NMV D12354 (orig. 493 and R 12871) (W. Blandowski), designated by Coventry, 1970: 121.
Diagnosis	Additional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (720 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Venomous! Maybe the most venomous snake of the world. The toxin from one bite may be sufficient to kill 250,000 mice (PREISSLER 2004). Abundance: Rare. This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024.
Etymology	Named after Greek mikros (= small) + lepidotos (= scaled), referring to the relatively small scales on its back.
References	Brischoux F, Pizzatto L, Shine R. 2010. Insights into the adaptive significance of vertical pupil shape in snakes. J Evol Biol. 23(9): 1878-85. - get paper here Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp. Covacevich J & Wombey, J 1976. Recognition of Parademansia microlepidotus (McCoy), Elapidae, a dangerous Australian snake. Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 87:29-32 Covacevich, J., McDowell, S.B., Tanner, C. & Mengdon, G. 1980. The relationship of the taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) and the small-scaled snake (O. microlepidotus), Serpentes: Elapidae. Proc. Aust. Herp. Symposium (Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, Parkville): 160-168. Kinghorn, J.R. 1955. Herpetological notes. No. 5. Rec. Austral. Mus. 23: 283-286 - get paper here Laita, Mark 2013. Serpentine. Abrams and PQ Blackwell, Auckland, New Zealand, 200 unnumbered pages Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here Macleay, W. 1882. Description of two new species of snakes. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 6: 811-813 - get paper here Mattison, Chris 2007. The New Encyclopedia of Snakes. Princeton University Press McCoy, F. 1879. Diemenia superciliosa (Fischer) The common brown snake; Diemenia microlepidota (McCoy) Small-scaled brown snake, Diemenia aspidorhyncha (McCoy) The shield-fronted brown snake. [...] Prod. Zool. Vict. 3: 11-13. - get paper here Mirtschin, P. J.; Reid, R. B. 1982. Occurrence and distribution of the Inland Taipan Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Reptilia: Elapidae) in South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of Australia 106:213-214. - get paper here Mirtschin, P., Rasmussen, A.R. & Weinstein, S.A. 2017. Australia’s Dangerous snakes. CSIRO Publishing, 424 pp. - get paper here O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here Preißler, D. 2004. Alles über Schlangen. Draco 5 (17): 4-21 - get paper here Read J L. 1994. A major range extension and new ecological data on Oxyuranus microlepidotus (Reptilia: Elapidae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 118 (1-2): 143-145 - get paper here Seung Hoon, Cha 2012. Snake, the world most beautifull curve [in Korean]. Hownext, 304 pp. [ISBN 978-89-965656-7-3] - get paper here Strimple, Peter D.;Covacevich, Jeanette 1997. The Taipans of Australia & New Guinea. Reptiles 5 (12): 32-45 Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp. Wachtel, Eric 2018. Ein Traum wird wahr: 6 Monate unterwegs durch Australien. Ophidia 12 (2): 12-23 Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp. Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.kingsnake.com/oz/snakes/elapids/elapids.htm http://www.amonline.net.au/herpetology/research/pdf/elapidae.pdf http://www.aussiepythons.com/postnuke/print.php?sid=30 http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Elapidae/Oxyuranus… http://www.seh-herpetology.org/images/atlas/pdf/squamata/oxymic.pdf Google images

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