# Most venomous creature on earth
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [November 16, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183 "2016-11-16T17:40:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/1 "2016-11-16T17:40:29Z")
[Original column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1829/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth) According to what I’ve read the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex Maricopa, has an LD50 of just 0.12 mg per kg of body weight which would seem to beat out the Taipan listed in the column.
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### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/2 "2016-11-16T19:22:27Z")
I found this on a loser web site “These are the top 5 deadliest poisons on the planet”:
> [@](#):
>
> Scientists differ about the relative toxicities of substances, but they seem to agree that botulinum toxin, produced by anaerobic bacteria, is the most toxic substance known. Its LD[sub]50[/sub] is tiny – at most 1 nanogram per kilogram can kill a human. Extrapolating from its effect on mice, an intravenous dose of just 10[sup]-7[/sup]g would be fatal to a 70kg person.
Sound like an interesting job … injecting mice with various poisons … probably not so good for the mice though …
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### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/3 "2016-11-17T01:54:38Z")
> [@drewder](#):
>
> [Original column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1829/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth) According to what I’ve read the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex Maricopa, has an LD50 of just 0.12 mg per kg of body weight which would seem to beat out the Taipan listed in the column.
Worse than the BWS (0.9), not as bad as the taipan (0.03)
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/4 "2016-11-17T02:10:13Z")
I thought it was jelly fish neurotoxins!
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### Author:  [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/5 "2016-11-18T02:29:27Z")
Australian Geographic agrees on the ld50 of the inland taipan, also (in a nod to the original SD article, ) known as the Fierce Snake.
Anything else from around the world likely to dislodge anything in our top 10?
> **[Top 10 most venomous animals in Australia - Australian Geographic](https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2015/05/top-10-most-venomous-animals-in-australia/)**
>
> Australia’s global reputation as a haven for venomous creatures is well deserved. But would you know which should be most feared? Here’s our list of 10 of the most deadly.
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/6 "2016-11-18T02:38:36Z")
[frog](http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150422-the-worlds-most-poisonous-animal)
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### Author:  [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/7 "2016-11-19T16:31:28Z")
Are we comparing the toxicity of the raw poisons, mg for mg? Or of the purified toxic compounds, likewise? Or the “killing mass” for all the toxin contained in the creature at any given time? Or the average likelihood of dying from one single exposure (bite, sting, touch)?
It seems to me we lack some standard here!
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### Author:  [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/8 "2016-11-25T19:01:41Z")
I thought blue-ringed octopus might be a contender. It uses tetrodotoxin (also used by puffer fish and frogs).
But it only weighs in at 0.3 mg per kg, putting it ahead of the black widow spider, but behind the inland taipan (and ants!).
> **[Tetrodotoxin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrodotoxin)**
>
> Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an order that includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Although tetrodotoxin was discovered in these fish, it is found in several other animals (e.g., in blue-ringed octopuses, rough-skinned newts, and moon snails). It is also produced by certain infectious or symbiotic bacteria like Pseudoalteromonas, Pseudomonas, and Vibrio as well as other s...
> [@](#):
>
> TTX is extremely toxic. The Material Safety Data Sheet for TTX lists the oral median lethal dose (LD50) for mice as 334 μg per kg.
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### Author:  [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/9 "2016-11-25T19:07:31Z")
> [@Ignotus](#):
>
> Are we comparing the toxicity of the raw poisons, mg for mg? Or of the purified toxic compounds, likewise? Or the “killing mass” for all the toxin contained in the creature at any given time? Or the average likelihood of dying from one single exposure (bite, sting, touch)?
>
> It seems to me we lack some standard here!
I’d agree- “most venomous creature on earth” should consider quantity of venom delivered as well as potency. If I slip a “half-lethal” dose of iocane\* into your wine, you may not notice it at all.
\*[Iocane | Princess Bride Wiki | Fandom](http://princessbride.wikia.com/wiki/Iocane)
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### Author:  [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/10 "2016-11-25T23:52:54Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#):
>
> I’d agree- “most venomous creature on earth” should consider quantity of venom delivered as well as potency. If I slip a “half-lethal” dose of iocane\* into your wine, you may not notice it at all.
>
> \*[Iocane | Princess Bride Wiki | Fandom](http://princessbride.wikia.com/wiki/Iocane)
although some of us have spent years building up a tolerance for iocane. 😃
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/11 "2016-11-26T02:08:55Z")
The most venomous “total package” animal is probably the black mamba - Big at 6-10 feet, extremely toxic venom, usually strikes multiple times and delivers large venom loads each time. Death for humans is almost 100% without treatment within an hour.
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### Author:  [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/12 "2016-11-26T04:58:14Z")
According to [a list of known toxin LD50 values](http://www.uab.cat/doc/DL50_biotoxines) (PDF), _Clostridium botulinum_ is probably the winner among those, at 0.03 ng/kg.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/13 "2016-11-26T05:43:06Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> The most venomous “total package” animal is probably the black mamba - Big at 6-10 feet, extremely toxic venom, usually strikes multiple times and delivers large venom loads each time. Death for humans is almost 100% without treatment within an hour.
This is what I’ve heard.
Although, if “total package” is a consideration, should a wild Komodo Dragon be considered? It makes a venom that causes pain and inhibits clotting, has huge teeth relative to other venomous animals, making the “no clotting” a very big deal, and also its mouth is full of toxins from rotting meet between its teeth, something bugs, snakes and smaller lizards can’t deliver.
Zoo Komodo Dragons have somewhat cleaner teeth, but you still wouldn’t want to be bitten by one-- although, IIRC, the one person who has survived a bite in known history, was bitten in a zoo-- but he also got immediate care.
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/14 "2016-11-28T06:05:31Z")
I am kind of surprised to see no mention of someone’s ex.
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### Author:  [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-venomous-creature-on-earth/772183/15 "2016-11-28T06:10:08Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> …
>
> Although, if “total package” is a consideration, should a wild Komodo Dragon be considered? It makes a venom that causes pain and inhibits clotting, has huge teeth relative to other venomous animals, making the “no clotting” a very big deal, and also its mouth is full of toxins from rotting meet between its teeth…
S’cuse me while I go throw up from this description…☹