Eastern brown snake

Description

The eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis), often referred to as the common brown snake, is a species of highly venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to eastern and central Australia and southern New Guinea. It was first described by André Marie Constant Duméril, Gabriel Bibron, and Auguste Duméril in 1854. The adult eastern brown snake has a slender build and can grow to 2 m (7 ft) in length. The colour of its surface ranges from pale brown to black, while its underside is pale cream-yellow, often with orange or grey splotches. The eastern brown snake is found in most habitats except dense forests. They are found often in farmland and on the outskirts of urban areas, as such places are populated by their main prey, the house mouse. The species is oviparous. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the snake as a least-concern species, though its status in New Guinea is unclear. Considered the world's second-most venomous land snake after the inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), based on its LD50 value (subcutaneous) in mice, it is responsible for about 60% of human snake-bite deaths in Australia. The main effects of its venom are on the circulatory system—coagulopathy, haemorrhage (bleeding), cardiovascular collapse, and cardiac arrest. One of the main components of the venom is the prothrombinase complex pseutarin-C, which breaks down prothrombin. The eastern brown snake is of slender to average build with no demarcation between its head and neck.Its snout appears rounded when viewed from above. Most specimens have a total length (including tail) up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft), with some large individuals reaching 2 m (6.6 ft). The maximum recorded total length for the species is 2.4 m (7.9 ft).Evidence indicates that snakes from the northern populations tend to be larger than those from southern populations. The adult eastern brown snake is variable in colour. Its upper parts range from pale to dark brown,or sometimes shades of orange or russet, with the pigment more richly coloured in the posterior part of the dorsal scales.Eastern brown snakes from Merauke have tan to olive upper parts, while those from eastern Papua New Guinea are very dark grey-brown to blackish.