Reptiles · Squamata · Elapidae

Eastern Brown Snake

Pseudonaja textilis

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The eastern brown snake, better known simply as the brown snake, is an elapid native to Australia. It is the second most venomous land snake in the world according to recent analyses. Its figures: an LD50 of 0.15 mg/kg and a length of up to 2.4 m. That, combined with a range taking in the well-populated east coast of Australia, has resulted in fatalities. There is a subspecies in parts of New Guinea and adjacent islands.

Size

1.2 m – 2 m

Lifespan

15 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestGrasslandCarnivore Diurnal Solitary Reptile Temperate forest Grassland

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Fun facts

It is responsible for most snakebite deaths in Australia, not because it is the most venomous but because it lives where people live: it thrives on farmland and the edges of towns, following the mice.
Its abundance depends directly on mouse plagues: in years when rodent numbers explode across the Australian wheat belt, the snakes multiply and accidents rise.
It can move at great speed and, cornered, rears up into an S-shape before striking, an unmistakable warning posture.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (reptile)
Habitat & environment: Grassland, farmland, woodland edges and the outskirts of towns in eastern Australia
Sexual maturity: 3 years
Gestation / incubation: 75 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 20 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonaja_textilis