cameratrapcodger wrote:
Thanks for showing. Is there an explanation for why the venom is so much more toxic than it has to be to kill their normal prey or to make a predotor sick?
The Eastern Brown snake has relatively short fangs so standard toxin would take longer to act but because the toxin is so deadly that overcomes the problem of the short fangs. I can't think of any animal wanting to bother an adult venemous snake in Australia. The Kookaburra often preys on young venemous snakes & swallows them whole.
Please read the following about the World's deadliest snake which lives in arid parts of outback Queensland, Australia. It is described very nicely here.
The INLAND TAIPAN (FEIRCE SNAKE) is the most venomous snake in the world. Based on the median lethal dose value in mice, its venom, drop for drop, is by far the most toxic of any snake – much more so than even sea snakes[11][12][13] – and it has the most toxic venom of any reptile when tested on human heart cell culture.[14][15][16] Unlike most snakes, the inland taipan is a specialist mammal hunter so its venom is specially adapted to kill warm-blooded species.[17] It is estimated that one bite possesses enough lethality to kill at least 100 fully grown men,[18] and, depending on the nature of the bite, it has the potential to kill someone in as little as 30 to 45 minutes if left untreated.[19] It is an extremely fast and agile snake that can strike instantly with extreme accuracy,[20] often striking multiple times in the same attack,[21] and it envenoms in almost every case.[22]