Coastal taipan where the maximum winter temperature is below . The second subspecies ("Oxyuranus scutellatus canni" ) is found throughout the island of New Guinea, with higher concentrations of the snake being found in the nation of Papua New Guinea. The coastal taipan can be found in a variety of different habitats. It can be found in warm, wetter temperate to tropical coastal regions, in monsoon forests, wet and dry sclerophyll forests and woodlands, and in natural and artificial grassy areas, including grazing paddocks and disused rubbish tips. In Queensland, it has adapted well to sugarcane fields, where it thrives on the
Coastal taipan is exceeded in length among venomous snakes only by the Asiatic king cobra, African black mamba, and genus "Lachesis" (bushmasters) of the American neotropics. The head of the coastal taipan is long and narrow like that of the African black mamba ("Dendroaspis polylepis"), but without the "coffin" shape. The two species are strongly convergent in several aspects of morphology, ecology and behaviour. "O. scutellatus" has an angular brow and is lighter-coloured on the face. 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