Most Vicious Australian Snakes May Have Arrived by Sea Rather than Land, Study Says

Australia is popular for its teeming wildlife, from spiders to snakes and more! A recent study reveals the shocking origin of the most vicious snakes in the Land Down Under - the brown snake and tiger snake.

University of Adelaide researchers have learned that although most reptiles in the continent arrive by land, the two front-fanged snakes arrived by sea. Although the timeline of the snake's arrival isn't clear as of yet, researchers hope that the recent findings will help shed light on the deadly species.

Tiger Snakes and Brown Snakes; Australia's Most Vicious Snakes

(Photo : Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 24: A tiger snake is seen on display at Sydney Zoo on February 24, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Sydney Zoo, located at Bungarribee Park in Western Sydney, is the first new zoo to be built in Sydney in more than 100 years. The Zoo opened to the public on 7 December 2019.

Notechis scutatus or Tiger snakes, according to the Australian Museum, are large and venomous with a striking black and yellow band that can grow to 100 to 240cm. Although many are scared of them, the species is generally shy, preferring to escape conflict rather than attack. When cornered, tiger snakes will show an impressive threat display by tensing their forebody, loosening its curve, and slightly raising and pointing their head at its offender.

As the tiger snake inflates and deflates its body, it will hiss loudly. When provoked, the venomous snake will lass out a forceful bite.

Meanwhile, Pseudonaja textilis or Brown snakes are more deadly than tiger snakes despite their noticeably smaller size. It has earned the distinction of causing more snake bite-related deaths in Australia than other species in the continent.

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Sea Arrival of Australia's Most Vicious Snakes

In the study published in the journal Genes, titled "Horizontal Transposon Transfer and Its Implications for the Ancestral Ecology of Hydrophiine Snakes" researchers from the University of Adelaide analyzed the genomic sequences of the two front-fanged Australian snake species and compared the findings to marine and semi-marine elapid snakes, and Asian elapids.

The analysis showed that the ancestors of the most vicious elapids in Australia had genes not found in Asian elapid species.

David Adelson, co-author of the study and a professor of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Adelaide, explains that researchers know that all marine and semi-marine sea snakes came from a common Australian land-based ancestor, the origin of the tiger snake and the brown snake has been largely debated for some time. Some believe that the snake's ancestors traveled to the continent via land, while others have the more contentious view that the species swam.

In their research, the team found a wild number of genes seen in the ancestors of all Australian elapids that could not be traced to a snake ancestor. Instead, the genes are similar to the transposable gene sequencing found in marine life such as sea urchins, sea squirts, fish, bivalves, and even turtles, DailyMail reported.

The discovery shows that the marine environment could transfer new genetic material to the snake's ancestors, which supports the argument that the first Australian elapids, the ancestors of tiger snakes and brown snakes, swam to the shores of Australia.