Inland taipan strike if provoked, mishandled, or prevented from escaping. Because it lives in such remote locations, the inland taipan seldom comes in contact with people; therefore it is not considered the most deadly snake in the world overall, especially in terms of disposition and human deaths per year. The word "fierce" from its alternative name describes its venom, not its temperament. The two Australian taipans; the coastal taipan ("Oxyuranus scutellatus") and the inland taipan ("Oxyuranus microlepidotus") shared a common ancestor. Alignments of the mitochondrial ND4 genes from these species indicate an evolutionary divergence from the common ancestor around 9-10 million years
Inland taipan Cook University, the majority of components in the venom have not been characterized and little molecular research has been undertaken on taipan ("Oxyuranus") species at large. As of 2005, the amino acid sequences of only seven proteins from inland taipan have been submitted to SWISS-PROT databases. The mortality rate is high in untreated cases: Clinically, envenomation may represent a complex scenario of multiple organ system poisoning with neurotoxic symptoms typically dominating. Acute renal failure, rhabdomyolysis, and disseminated coagulopathy may also complicate the setting. The first local and general symptoms of a bite are local pain and variable non-specific effects which