Why are Australian snakes so toxic?

[Eskimo Joe]

Hi there folks...

It's a well known fact that most Australian snakes are very toxic, and most of the worlds most toxic snakes are found here. Why is this, why are they so much more toxic than snakes in other parts of the world? Can someone give me a answer on this from a biogeographical and evolutionary view...

 

:Tupac:

[Queso]

It's funny because I asked this in a confession booth once at a completely random (which isn't really random at all) church in Portland, Maine.

 

"Father, Why are the snakes in Austrailia so poisonous?"

 

"My son, god deblessed the land

for the damned,

Those snakes are serpentines.

Holiness. It's as if their teeth puncture two apperture's downward,

rapidly."

 

"Yes..."

 

"Oh yes, we're happening"

 

I remember it happening. It was a trippy experience, might I ad.

[Boerseun]

Australian snakes are as poinsonous as they are, in order to sell more of the serum, Victoria Bitter. VB can also be taken as a preventative measure, and should ideally be taken by the gallon for it to work effectively if bitten by a snake. It wears of rather quickly, though, and therefore need to be taken on a daily basis. XXXX works good to, but not exactly as good.

 

On a more serious note, I guess its actually because the Australian species have been geographically seperated from the rest of the world for much longer than the other species has been seperated from each other, and severe toxicity is just the evolutionary path they took, what with having a more restricted gene pool and smaller numbers which enhanced the speed of the evolutionary process by a factor of x.

[Queso]

----Not that I believed him.

 

It was just strange. Thought I would toss someth

[bpjg2fat]

those snakes that spit acid? could you trip off of that?

[Queso]

those snakes that spit acid? could you trip off of that?

not that i'm aware of.

you'd just die in pain

[bpjg2fat]

bummer

[Drip Curl Magic]

It's funny because I asked this in a confession booth once at a completely random (which isn't really random at all) church in Portland, Maine.

 

"Father, Why are the snakes in Austrailia so poisonous?"

 

"My son, god deblessed the land

for the damned,

Those snakes are serpentines.

Holiness. It's as if their teeth puncture two apperture's downward,

rapidly."

 

"Yes..."

 

"Oh yes, we're happening"

 

I remember it happening. It was a trippy experience, might I ad.

 

 

:cool: :lol:

[InfiniteNow]

Easy answer? Because their toxicity proved to be a trait that furthered their survival. Those who were less toxic died off.

[Pyrotex]

Easy answer? Because their toxicity proved to be a trait that furthered their survival. Those who were less toxic died off.

It can be speculated (and I do!) that in N.America, there were fewer predators of snakes, and possibly better cover for snakes, except in certain areas. So we have many snakes that prosper very well, thank you very much, without having to be armed and dangerous.

 

Would need to research the climatology and ecology of Australia over the last coupla million years to justify this.

[InfiniteNow]

That's why I prefaced by saying "easy answer." Maybe I should've said "the sort of correct, but not complete" answer. :cup:

[Racoon]

Hi there folks...

It's a well known fact that most Australian snakes are very toxic, and most of the worlds most toxic snakes are found here. Why is this, why are they so much more toxic than snakes in other parts of the world? Can someone give me a answer on this from a biogeographical and evolutionary view...

 

:confused:

 

There are a few poisonous spiders there as well mate. :cup:

Australia has some really neat-o species.

 

So many things that can kill you,

So little time.

[Boerseun]

Would've been ace cool if they had marsupial spiders!

[bpjg2fat]

eeeee :)

[Jay-qu]

lol its a dangerous job living down under, but someone has to do it!

[Michaelangelica]

I am not sure that Australia has THE most toxic snake.

We do have some good ones though.

Death by snakebite, however is rare as all respond to a pressure bandage which can give you 1-2 days to seek help. A pressure bandage stops the venom travelling through the lymph system. (venom does not travel in the blood so tourniquets are useless.)

There is a plentiful supply of anti-venom provided by places like the Australian Reptile Park a few miles from me at Somersby Australia (they may have a web site?). I think India has the most deaths caused by snakebite.

 

However venomous they are, Australian snakes are in dire (like extiction ) trouble. This is due to the silly introduction of the South American Cane Toad into N. Australia (Queensland) as a biolgical control to help sugar farmers. The toads have now taken over most of Queensland, in plague proportions. They are now moving south into NSW and west into NT threatning World Heritage areas like Kakadu National Park.

(There are no native toads in Australia)

Snakes eat the toads and are killed by a poison gland in the toad's "neck"

 

Australian snake venom is the souce of some unique and potentially useful chemicals and some research is being done on this in many Aust. universities.

 

Michael

[Ganoderma]

aus has some toxic stuff but so does africa and to a lesser extent asia.

 

i like to think along the lines posted above about environment. its just how they evolved. its a good observation about predators as well compared to north america. look at the climate. reptiles are cold blooded and there are many many COLD spots in canada and the usa (thats where i am from by the by). its possible that in colder climates prehaps not only a limited amount of species branching off but perhaps also a slower evolution? just a thought. also notice that there are a lot of species in NA that cover a LOT of ground (garters for example). i have often wondered about environmental factors and speciation. barriers like islands, mountains etc...

 

although perhaps not AS toxic to *people* most other warmer countries (especially those with areas of no freezing temps) have quite toxic snakes.

 

yes, aus has very toxic snakes, but i think it is played up a little too much...