The most venomous snakes in the world – TOP 10 and TOP 100

Which snake is the most venomous?

Such a question may not have an unambiguous answer. There are numerous criteria to be followed while creating a comparison like this one.

Most frequently mentioned venomous snakes include the black mamba (Dendroaspis polyepis) and her ‘kiss of death‘ – it has a toxin with the most immediate effect, several subspecies of cobra (Naja, Ophiopahagus, Hemchatus, Boulengerina), one of the greatest venomous snakes – king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) or the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus).

Are those snakes truly most venomous?

Certainly every one of those snakes is extremely dangerous. King cobra (the world`s largest venomous snake – 5.7 m (18ft 8in)), Black mamba (Africa`s longest venomous snake – 4.5 m (14ft 9in) of length), or a Pit viper are sizeable snakes, injecting large portions of venom in one bite. Every one of them can easily kill a man, a single bite injection could in fact provide a lethal dose of toxin for several people.

Lethal dose

While preparing this comparison, we decided to focus on the so called Lethal Dose, LD (lat. dosis lethalis, DL). In case of snake venom it determines its toxicity.

The LD value indicates the dose necessary for causing death of a certain percentage of tested animals of a given species -LDx. The X marks the percentage of venomous bites resulting in animals` deaths.

LD₅₀

In the analysis of toxic substances, the most commonly used value is LD₅₀ (median lethal dose). It is a dose which resulted in deaths of 50% of tested specimen. The studies are conducted on mice.

To sum up – the recognized LD₅₀ value stands for 50% mortality rate among mice with ca. 20 g body weight. In short – it is the minimum portion of venom necessary to kill a mouse.

One must remember that LD₅₀ indicates the amount of venom needed to kill, which is not equal to the total amount of venom injected by the snake. In fact, snakes inject much more venom. Consequently, the total portion of the most dangerous snakes’ venom could kill more than one person. In case of the world’s most venomous snake – even 289 people!

There are four most popular methods in which the median lethal dose (LD₅₀) test is measured:

• LD_SC – Subcutaneous: Venom is injected into the fatty layer beneath the skin
• LD_IV – Intravenous: Venom is injected directly into a vein
• LD_IM – Intramuscular: Venom is injected into a muscle
• LD_IP – Intraperitoneal: Venom is injected into the abdominal cavity

The most commonly tested methods are subcutaneous and intravenous injections of mice.

Which snake is the most venomous snake in the world?

Inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) – the world’s most venomous snake

The title of the world’s most venomous snake belongs to the inland taipan, which inhabits the deserts of Australia.

Mean lethal dose LD₅₀ of the inland taipan’s venom is merely 0.025 mg/kg for mice. This means that a single bite, allowing it to inject up to 100 mg of venom, is enough to kill over 100 adult people. The venom needs 45 minutes to take effect. If we are able to apply a serum by that time, we will live. The problem is that being bit in the middle of an Australian desert one does not always carry the antidote by chance.

The comparison below covers the most venomous snakes in the world. Among others, the table holds the Valakadyn sea snake (Enhydrina schistosa), one of the most venomous sea snakes, plus the most venomous snake of the seas – Dubois` sea snake (Aipysurus duboisii).

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Top 10 & Top 100

The most venomous snakes in the world

Rank	Name	Venom [mg]	LD50 SC [mg/kg]	kills 50% of mice
1	Inland taipan	217	0.01	1 085 000
2	Eastern brown snake	155	0.0365	212 329
3	Dubois’ sea snake	0.7	0.044	795
4	Yellowbelly sea snake	4	0.067	2 985
5	Taiwanese krait	18.4	0.09	10 222
6	Coastal taipan	882	0.106	416 038
7	Beaked sea snake	79	0.1125	35 111
8	Mainland tiger snake	336	0.12	140 000
9	Saw scaled viper	72	0.151	23 841
10	Northern Philippine cobra	250	0.20	62 500
11	Black banded sea krait	14	0.20	3 500
12	Tiger rattlesnake	11	0.21	2 619
13	Forest cobra	1 102	0.225	244 889
14	Monocled cobra	742	0.24	154 583
15	Indochinese spitting cobra	738	0.25	147 600
16	Elegant sea snake	24	0.26	4 615
17	Olive brown sea snake	33	0.26	6 250
18	Chinese cobra	200	0.29	34 483
19	Mohave rattlesnake	150	0.31	24 194
20	Black mamba	400	0.32	400 000
21	Speckled Brown Snake	6	0.36	833
22	Indian krait	24.3	0.365	3 329
23	Caspian cobra	590	0.40	73 750
24	Death adder	236	0.40	29 500
25	Spectacled cobra	610	0.45	67 778
26	Annulated sea snake	80	0.464	8 621
27	Western brown snake	74	0.473	7 822
28	Lowlands Copperhead	155	0.50	15 500
29	Fea’s viper	1.75	0.50	175
30	Dugite	143	0.66	10 833
31	Cape cobra	150	0.70	10 714
32	Western green mamba	100	0.70	7 143
33	Russell’s viper	250	0.75	16 667
34	Rinkhals	120	1.00	6 000
35	Jameson’s mamba	120	1.00	6 000
36	King cobra	500	1.091	22 915
37	Congo water cobra	300	1.15	13 043
38	Eastern coralsnake	5	1.30	192
39	Stephens’s banded snake	154	1.36	5 662
40	Clarence River Snake	84	1.36	3 088
41	Mulga snake	802	1.94	20 670
42	Black necked spitting cobra	362	2.00	9 050
43	Blue bellied black snake	213	2.13	5 000
44	Collett’s Snake	226	2.38	4 748
45	Red bellied black snake	298	2.52	5 913
46	Mexican west coast rattlesnake	297	2.80	5 304
47	Horned viper	132	3.00	2 200
48	Eastern green mamba	75	3.05	1 230
49	Timber rattlesnake	229	3.10	3 694
50	Banded krait	114	3.60	1 583
51	Small scaled burrowing asp	10	4.00	125
52	Jararaca	70	4.32	810
53	Puff adder	750	4.40	8 523
54	Central African gaboon viper	2 400	5.00	24 000
55	Sidewinder rattlesnake	80	5.50	727
56	Wagler’s pit viper	90	6.19	727
57	Common European adder	18	6.45	140
58	Western diamondback rattlesnake	1 145	7.80	7 340
59	Sharp nosed viper	214	9.20	1 163
60	Red diamond rattlesnake	707	9.92	3 564
61	Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake	848	11.40	3 719
62	Boomslang	8	12.50	32
63	White lipped pit viper	15	12.75	59
64	Jararacussu	321	13.00	1 235
65	Common Night Adder	300	15.00	1 000
66	Urutu	100	15.80	316
67	Levantine viper	150	16.00	469
68	Mamushi	7	20.00	18
69	Common lancehead	200	22.00	455
70	Malayan pit viper	60	23.40	128
71	Mottled Rock rattlesnake	129	23.95	269
72	Pigmy Rattlesnake	35	24.30	72
73	Copperhead	75	25.60	146
74	Cottonmouth	170	25.80	329
75	Eyelash viper	20	33.20	30
76	Atlantic bushmaster	500	36.90	678

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