Coastal taipan: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the coastal taipan lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Oxyuranus scutellatus
Group	Snakes
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Oceania
Class	Reptile
Order	Squamata
Family	Elapidae

Where does the coastal taipan live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the coastal taipan in 1 country or territory across Oceania.

Papua New Guinea

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the coastal taipan endangered?

The coastal taipan’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the coastal taipan?

The coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) is a reptile in the order Squamata and the family Elapidae, genus Oxyuranus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the coastal taipan

The coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus), or common taipan, is a species of extremely venomous snake in the family Elapidae. Described by Wilhelm Peters in 1867, the species is native to the coastal regions of northern and eastern Australia and the island of New Guinea. The second-longest venomous snake in Australia, the coastal taipan averages around 2.0 m (6.6 ft) long, with the longest specimens reaching 2.9 m (9.5 ft) in length. It has light olive or reddish-brown upperparts, with paler underparts. The snake is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The coastal taipan is found in a wide range of habitats, from monsoon forests to open woodland, as well as human-modified habitats such as sugarcane fields. It mainly hunts and eats small mammals, and opportunistically takes bird prey. The species is oviparous.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Coastal taipan (revision 1379999508), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q2321476 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).