Taipan process on the arch of the palate, which Kinghorn noted separated the genus from all other elapids. The three known species are: the coastal taipan ("Oxyuranus scutellatus"), the inland taipan ("Oxyuranus microlepidotus"), and a recently discovered third species, the Central Ranges taipan ("Oxyuranus temporalis"). The coastal taipan has two subspecies: the coastal taipan ("O. s. scutellatus"), found along the northeastern coast of Queensland, and the Papuan taipan ("O. s. canni"), found on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. A 2016 genetic analysis showed that the speckled brown snake was an early offshoot of a lineage giving rise to 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