King brown snake

King Brown (Mulga)
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Pseudechis
Species:	P. australis
Binomial name
Pseudechis australis Gray
Range of King Brown (in red)

Pseudechis australis, the common Mulga snake, is a dangerously venomous snake found in Australia. It is the second largest venomous snake in Australia (after the Taipan) and the fourth or fifth? largest venomous snake in the world (King Cobra, Black Mamba, Taipan, Bushmaster?, King Brown) and produces large amounts of venom. Despite one of its common names, King Brown, it is part of the Pseudechis (black snake) genus.

Appearance

Mulga snakes are large venomous snakes growing from 2.5 metres to 3 metres in length. Depending on its areal extent, mulga snakes can be of a light brown colour in the desert to a dark brown-blackish colour in the cooler regions of Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. Mulga snakes are robust with a wide head and smooth snout.

Range

Mulga snakes occur over much of Australia. They are found in every state of Australia except for Victoria and Tasmania. Its range includes all of the Northern Territory, most parts of Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. It may also be found in the western parts of the Australian Capital Territory.

Habitat

taken at the Armadale Reptile Centre

Mulga snakes inhabit woodlands, hummock grassland, chenopod scrubland and almost bare gibber or sandy deserts sheltering under timber, rubbish piles, burrows and deep soil cracks. They are not found in rainforests.

Diet

The mulga snake primarily eats other reptiles, earning the title 'reptile eater'. It eats other snakes (including venomous species), lizards, birds, mammals and frogs. It is well adapted to eating other venomous snakes, with most venom having no or subtle effects. With giant venom glands, mulga snakes will bite and hold their prey using a chewing action to pump enough venom to slow down even the most deadly adversary.

Venom

Mulga snake venom by world standards is very toxic and is produced in large quantities. The average tiger snake produces around 10–20 mg when milked. By comparison, a good-sized mulga snake may deliver over 150 mg in one bite. The ld50 is 2.38 subcutaneous.

Black snake anti-venom is used to treat bites from this species, after a CSL Venom Detection Kit has returned a conclusive result for mulga snake envenomation and there are signs that anti-venom usage is required.

Reproduction

Female mulga snakes produce a clutch of around 8-20 eggs, which may be laid in a disused burrow or beneath a log or rock. There is no maternal care for the eggs once they have been laid. Eggs take about 2–3 months to hatch, after which time the new born snakelets must care for themselves.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by John Edward Gray in 1842, placing it in the genus Naja (cobras). Two species been described by Raymond Hoser; Pailsus rossignolii, found in Irian Jaya, and Pailsus weigeli (Cannia weigeli Wells and Wellington 1987) later given as Pseudechis rossignolii and Pseudechis weigeli by Wolfgang Wüster and others. The evidence provided by genetic divergence supported the split of the taxon, but they are unconfirmed as valid species.

References

• Australia Zoo
• Reptile Park
• Treatment of Australian Snake Bites