# What's the most poisonous creature on earth?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [October 25, 2004, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022 "2004-10-25T09:27:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@soob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soob)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/1 "2004-10-25T09:27:33Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpoison.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpoison.html)
“The “fierce snake” is probably just a variant name for one of the taipan species, made up by the folks producing the TV show. There is no such snake name in use anywhere in the world.”
That is incorrect. Whilst the fierce snake is also know as the inland and western taipan, it is quite commonly referred to as the fierce snake, which tends to differentiate it from the coastal taipan. You should research these things before stating them as fact - suggesting it was made up by a TV producer is rather poor! 😕
See:
[http://www.avru.unimelb.edu.au/avruweb/Taipans.htm](http://www.avru.unimelb.edu.au/avruweb/Taipans.htm)
[http://www.reptilepark.com.au/animals.asp?catID=16&ID=112](http://www.reptilepark.com.au/animals.asp?catID=16&ID=112)
---
### Author:  [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/2 "2004-10-25T11:17:25Z")
I always thought it was the poison dart frog. Apparently it’s rather difficult to assess with any degree of certainty…
[Ceceil’s Answer](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpoison.html)
---
### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/3 "2004-10-31T06:13:54Z")
Rob Bredl - the TV herpetologist whom I respect most - refers to it as a “fiercesnake”, and this guy is for real. Not the the type at all to make up a name for a snake to sound cool on TV.
---
### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/4 "2004-10-31T20:18:37Z")
> [@BadBadger](#):
>
> I always thought it was the poison dart frog. Apparently it’s rather difficult to assess with any degree of certainty…
> [Ceceil’s Answer](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpoison.html)
Actually, that’s SDStaff Doug’s answer (which was linked to in the original post)
---
### Author:  [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/5 "2004-10-31T22:14:24Z")
I’ve always heard it was the [Sea Wasp,](http://www.extremescience.com/DeadliestCreature.htm) but I could well be wrong.
---
### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/6 "2004-10-31T22:48:22Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#):
>
> I’ve always heard it was the [Sea Wasp,](http://www.extremescience.com/DeadliestCreature.htm) but I could well be wrong.
With an LD50 of 80 ug/kg (ipr-crayfish) it would be fairly close.
“C. quadrigatus toxin-A (CqTX-A, 44 kDa), a major proteinaceous toxin, for the first time, from the nematocysts of C. quadrigatus. CqTX-A showed lethal toxicity to crayfish when administered via intraperitoneal injection (LD50 = 80 microg/kg)”
[ref](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11866126&dopt=Abstract)
I think the researchers here used an invertebrate to avoid hassles with animal ethics approval.
---
### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/7 "2004-11-02T18:57:16Z")
A chemist.
What?
---
### Author:  [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/8 "2004-11-06T21:45:13Z")
I think it’s the killer midget.
---
### Author:  [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/9 "2004-11-08T20:22:05Z")
_Clostridium botulinum_ The LD50 of type A botulinum toxin is 0.001 ug/kg.
---
### Author:  [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/10 "2004-11-10T03:37:11Z")
Karl Rove?
🆒
---
### Author:  [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/11 "2004-11-11T01:02:56Z")
I’m going to make a wild guess and say it’s the cone shell snail that packs the meanest punch.
---
### Author:  [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/12 "2004-11-11T01:32:45Z")
Assuming that one is interested in making the distinction between poisonous animals and venomous ones, does anyone know the answer?
---
### Author:  [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/13 "2004-11-11T01:50:17Z")
I was thinking of venomous critters, as did most people here. If you mean poisonous, as in the real meaning, I go for Clostridium botulinum.
---
### Author:  [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/14 "2004-11-11T05:16:17Z")
_I go for Clostridium botulinum._
As I understand it, Clostridium botulinum produces its neurotoxin as a waste product during growth. If you ate a buch of dead organisims that had been washed, would they be full of the neurotoxin?
I was thinking that it would probably be one of the South American tree frogs and I know that some nudibranchs are poisionous but I don’t know to what degree.
---
### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/15 "2004-11-12T01:27:57Z")
> [@daffyduck](#):
>
> _I go for Clostridium botulinum._
>
> As I understand it, Clostridium botulinum produces its neurotoxin as a waste product during growth. If you ate a buch of dead organisims that had been washed, would they be full of the neurotoxin?
>
> I was thinking that it would probably be one of the South American tree frogs and I know that some nudibranchs are poisionous but I don’t know to what degree.
Batrachotoxin from poison arrow frogs is the most powerful animal toxin known. The LD[sub]50[/sub] 0.2 µg/kg (scu-mus).
[ref](http://www.asanltr.com/ASANews-99/995frogs.htm)
These frogs obtain the toxins from plant material and concentrate them in their body. A poison arrow frog loses is toxicity with a few months of captivity.
---
### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022/16 "2004-11-12T01:35:35Z")
Which compares to the inland taipan\* (mentioned in SDAB Dougs article) which has a LD[sub]50[/sub] 25 µg/kg (scu-mus).
\*aka fierce snake or small-scaled snake - _oxyuranus microlepidotus_