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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 73(5)

Science meets the taipan: the discovery and description of an iconic venomous snake

Kevin Markwell https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1814-1480 A and Richard Shine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7529-5657 B *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Business, Law and Arts, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2408, Australia.

B School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.

* Correspondence to: rick.shine@mq.edu.au

Handling Editor: Christofer Clemente

Australian Journal of Zoology 73, ZO25009 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO25009
Submitted: 7 March 2025  Accepted: 25 August 2025  Published: 16 September 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this publication contains images of deceased persons, and discussion of historical events which may be deemed culturally sensitive.

Reflecting its large size and potent venom, the coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) from northern Australia has been the subject of several books and popular articles but published accounts of the species’ discovery and classification by Western scientists contain numerous errors and omissions. Based on examination of original specimens and historical documents, we summarise the circumstances in which the first specimens of taipans were collected and we tease out the multiple mistakes that delayed adoption of the scientific and vernacular names currently used for the species. Our analysis identifies both answers and knowledge gaps about issues such as who collected the first specimens, why errors were made in identifying and naming this massive snake, the pathways through which errors and assumptions were perpetuated, and a lack of recognition for First Nations collectors who played important roles in the capture of at least two of the first three taipans known to Australian science.

Keywords: Aboriginal, Amalie Dietrich, Donald Thomson, Elapidae, Eric Worrell, Friday Wilson, herpetological history, James Roy Kinghorn, Pseudechis scutellatus, Pseudechis wilesmithii, Tommy Tucker, William McLennan.

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