Inland taipan their environment by changing the colour of the skin during seasonal changes. They tend to become lighter during summer and darker during the winter. This seasonal colour change serves the purpose of thermoregulation, allowing the snake to absorb more light in the colder months. In the wild, the inland taipan consumes only mammals, mostly rodents, such as the long-haired rat ("Rattus villosissimus"), the plains rat ("Pseudomys australis"), the introduced house mouse ("Mus musculus") and other dasyurids. Unlike other venomous snakes that strike with a single, accurate bite then retreat while waiting for the prey to die, the fierce snake subdues
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