Description

Oxyuranus Scutellatus Scutellatus Snake Venom | Coastal Taipan Venom:

Oxyuranus Scutellatus Scutellatus Snake Venom | Coastal Taipan Venom is extracted from a snake called Oxyuranus Scutellatus Scutellatus.

More details about Oxyuranus Scutellatus Scutellatus Snake Venom | Coastal Taipan Venom:

Purity	> 99 %
Form	Lyophilized Powder
Packaging	In vacuum sealed glass vials, in secured parcel.

Taxonomic Classification:

Name	Oxyuranus Scutellatus
Common Name(s)	Coastal taipan, common taipan
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Reptilia
Order	Squamata
Suborder	Serpentes
Family	Elapidae
Genus	Oxyuranus
Species	P. scutellatus

About Oxyuranus Scutellatus Canni Snake:

The coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus), or common taipan, is a species of highly venomous snake in the family Elapidae.

This species is native to the coastal regions of northern and eastern Australia and the island of New Guinea.

The second-longest venomous snake in Australia, the coastal taipan averages around 2 m (6.6 ft) long, with the longest specimens reaching 2.9 m (9.5 ft) in length.

It has light olive or reddish-brown upperparts, with paler underparts. The snake is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The coastal taipan is found in a wide range of habitats, from monsoon forests to open woodland, as well as human-modified habitats such as sugarcane fields. It mainly hunts and eats small mammals, and opportunistically takes bird prey. The species is oviparous.

According to most toxicological studies, this species is the third-most venomous land snake in the world after the inland taipan and eastern brown snake. Its venom is predominantly neurotoxic and coagulopathic.

Taxonomy:

German naturalist Wilhelm Peters described the coastal taipan as Pseudechis scutellatus in 1867, from material collected in Rockhampton, Queensland.

Charles Walter De Vis described Pseudechis wilesmithii from Walsh River in north Queensland in 1911. In 1922, scientific bird collector William McLennan killed two snakes near Coen in far north Queensland.

Impressed by their size—up to 2.76 m, he sent the skins and skulls to the Australian Museum in Sydney.

Australian naturalist Roy Kinghorn established the genus Oxyuranus in 1923, describing a specimen from Coen as O. maclennani after its collector.

He noted the distinctness of the palatine bone necessitated the new genus as distinct from all other elapid snakes.

Description:

The coastal taipan is the second longest venomous snake in Australia after the king brown snake (Pseudechis australis).

Adult specimens of this species typically attain sexual maturity around 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in total length (including tail). More mature specimens can grow to between 1.5 and 2.0 m (4.9 and 6.6 ft).

Other taipans, including the inland taipan, attain broadly similar sizes although they tend to be slightly smaller in average size.

A specimen of an average 2 m (6.6 ft) total length weighs around 3 kg (6.6 lb).

According to the Queensland Museum, the longest recorded total length for the coastal taipan was a specimen that was 2.9 m (9.5 ft) and weighed 6.5 kg (14 lb).

However, though exceptionally rare, much larger specimens are widely believed to exist, including specimens of as much as 3.3 m (11 ft).

O. scutellatus has a long and narrow head with an angular brow and is lighter-coloured on the face. The body is slender and colouration can vary.

Scalation:

The number and arrangement of scales on a snake’s body are key elements of identification to species level. The temporals are 2+3 (3+4).

The dorsal scales are in 21–23 rows at mid-body. The ventrals number 220–250. The anal plate is single (undivided). The subcaudals number 45–80 and are divided.

The scalation helps distinguish it from the king brown snake, which has a divided anal plate and 17 dorsal scales/

Distribution and habitat:

Considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the coastal taipan occurs in Australia and the southern New Guinea.

Its range extends from north-western Western Australia, the Northern Territory, across Cape York Peninsula and south in eastern Queensland into northern New South Wales (as far south as Grafton).

However, the coastal taipan is not found in regions where the maximum winter temperature is below 20 °C (68 °F).

The second subspecies (O. s. canni ) is found throughout the island of New Guinea, with higher concentrations of the snake being found in the nation of Papua New Guinea.

Behaviour:

The coastal taipan is primarily diurnal, being mostly active in the early to midmorning period, although it may become nocturnal in hot weather conditions.

The consensus of snake handlers is that the coastal taipan tends to avoid confrontation, but becomes highly aggressive if provoked.

Reproduction and lifespan:

Breeding season takes place between August and December. The coastal taipan is oviparous, laying a clutch of 7 to 20 eggs.

The eggs take 60 to 80 days to hatch, with the newly hatched snakes ranging from 30 to 34 cm (12 to 13 in) in length.

The young grow quickly, averaging 6.7 cm (2.6 in) a month, and reaching a length of 1 m (3.3 ft) in a year.

Male coastal taipans reach sexual maturity when they reach 80 cm in length, which they reach around 16 months of age, while females are able to breed when they are around 100 cm long, around 28 months old.