So, the local Starbucks has three trivia questions per week on their chalkboard…this was included this week.
I guessed sea snake as I know their venom is about 10 times stronger than a cobra’s…but then I also thought of that little rainforest frog…
Their alleged answer was: Portugese Man-O-War.
I call Bullsh*t!
Further research indicates to me that there is no consesus as to the world’s most venemous creature. Portugese Man-O-War’s are actually poisonous jellyfish-like creatures, but they are not even dedly to humans so HOW ON EARTH is it the most venemous animal.
Dopers, help me prove them worng, prove myself to be a weirdo and get a free coffee!!!
Most sources agree with World Eater; I don’t think any single source is enough to verify this, however. Some say that the man-o’-war is responsible for several deaths, and it is always mentioned in the same warnings as the box jelly, but the box jelly is always mentioned as either “the world’s most venomous animal” or “the world’s most venomous marine animal.”
Some claim the “fierce snake” of Queensland (man, what is it with Australia???) is the most venomous animal, although they say the taipan (snake) is more dangerous (?)
It’s hard to say what “most venomous” means, anyway; most likely to bite? Most toxic venom? Most venom injected per unit body weight? Most kills per year? Perhaps there should be a sort of “venom rating,” taking into account the likelihood of dying from a bite…
Out of interest, when did poisonous and venomous become synonyms? I’m sure in my youger days it was considered incorrect to refer to “poisonous snakes” or “poisonous insects”, they are venomous because they have mechanisms to get the venom into your system. Poisonous substances are absorbed by the body’s own actions - eating, breathing etc.
don’t ask, you’re right. That’s why, for example, poison dart frogs aren’t venomous; they don’t inject you with the toxins, they just secrete it and let you ingest it yourself.
Slight nitpick, The fierce snake is also known as the inland Taipan and is from the same family. So its correct to say that both the Taipan AND the Fierce snake are the most venomous creatures on land.
Oh and to add in my two cents on the OP, My “Toxic Animals of Australia” Seminar casts another vote for the box jelly fish as most venomous creature alive.
I’m not sure whether it’s still the case, but at one time the toxicity of a creature’s venom was rated by how many mice an given dose of that venom would kill - a system which is fairly useless in relevance to human safety.
Most people will survive a bite from one of our snakes if they receive medical attention; box jellyfish stings tend to produce catastrophic problems (often worsened by onlookers trying to remove the tentacles) extremely rapidly and often before medical aid can be summoned. I’ll take my chances with a snake bite any day over a box jellyfish sting.
An ex of mine has horrific scars from an encounter with a Portuguese Man O’ War, and did - indeed - nearly die from respiratory distress. We tend to take them fairly seriously at the beaches around here (incidentally, a PMOW is a colony of creatures, rather than a single organism).