Coastal Taipan

 The 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧 (𝐎𝐱𝐲𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬), or 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧,is a species of 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞 in the 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐞.The snake is considered to be a 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 according to the 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

Adult specimens of this species typically measure around 𝟏.𝟐 𝐦 in 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 (𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥). More mature specimens can grow to between 𝟏.𝟓 and 𝟐.𝟎 𝐦. A specimen of an average 𝟐.𝟎 𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟑.𝟎 𝐤𝐠.It has a 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 and 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 with an 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 and is 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝. The body is 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 and colouration can vary.It is often 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 or 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡-𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 in colour, but some specimens may be 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲 to 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤. The colouration is 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 on the 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, and 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 is usually a 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐲-𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 to a 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 in colour , and is often marked with 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 or 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐬.

The coastal taipan occurs in 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 and 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚. It's range extends from 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡-𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐚, and 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 in 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 into 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬. The coastal taipan is 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 in regions where the 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 is 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝟐𝟎 °𝐂.The coastal taipan can be found in a variety of different habitats, in 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐰𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 to 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐰𝐞𝐭 and 𝐝𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 and 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, and 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 and 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬, including 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 and 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬.

The coastal taipan's diet consists predominantly of 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬, 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐞, and 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬, with 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 captured opportunistically.

Generally 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞, the coastal taipan is considered the 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝-𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, behind 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧 and 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞.