The top 10 deadliest animals on earth | part-two

 THE HONEY BADGER

The honey badger is considered the most fearless and most aggressive animal on earth.

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8 snakes with the world's deadliest venom

Snakes are extremely dangerous species of reptiles and no doubt they appear among the most feared creatures on the planet. One significant feature about these limbless moving reptiles is their ability to eject toxic venoms from a bite. These venoms do posses  lethal threats to other organisms, thereby making the snake a very fearsome hunter in the wild. Trust me you  really don't want to mess around the snake's territory.

Out of the 3,500 snake species found on Earth, only 600 of them are actually capable of ejecting venoms from a bite. These venoms comes in different levels of lethality depending on the amount of toxin found in it. Studying about venoms is quite complex, and snake venom works differently on different creatures. Due to this, several criteria has thus been adopted when listing the most venomous snakes.  Some lists are based on how many mice or humans one bite from a snake would kill. Other lists are more interested in the number of human deaths recorded each year from the snake.  However the standard way of measuring the degree of lethality posed by a snake's venom or otherwise known as it "toxicity" is from the median lethal dose(LD50). The median lethal dose or LD50 is the dose of venom needed to kill 50%(half) the members of a group of tested animals after a specified duration. The animal mostly used for this tests are the mice. A lower LD50 is an indication of increased toxicity. 

In our list, we're going to highlight 8 of the most venomous snake species found on earth based on the median lethal dose for mice.

INLAND TAIPAN

Inland Taipan

When it comes to the amount of toxin found in a venom, the Inland Taipan is by far the most venomous snake in the world. Being nicknamed as the "fierce snake", a single bite from an Inland Taipan can deliver a maximum of 110mg of it venom, being so toxic enough to kill at least 100 adult humans or 250 thousand mice. Although being so venomous, it has less defensive disposition unlike it counterpart "the coastal Taipan" and it shy by nature. Hence very few humans have been bitten and no human death has ever been recorded from an Inland Taipan.

VENOM REVIEW

 Rating  : Extremely toxic

 dose  ejected :  44mg

Maximum dose recorded  : 110mg

Median lethal dose for mice  :  0.025mg/kg

Components of venom and envenomation

Neurotoxins, hemotoxins, myotoxins, nephrotoxins, haemorrhagin, hyaluronidase enzyme.

Envenomation can lead rise to paralysis (such as respiratory failure and pneumonia), coagulopathy(such as cerebral haemorrhage and kidney failure), and cardiac complications.

EASTERN BROWN SNAKE

Eastern brown snake

A specie of extremely venomous snake found mostly in the eastern and central Australia and New Guinea.

The eastern brown snake is considered the second most venomous snake, only behind the inland taipan based on it LD50 value in mice. A bite from an eastern brown snake can deliver enough venom, toxic enough to kill 212,000 mice or 58 humans. It responsible for about 60% of snake bite death in Australia.

VENOM RATING : Extremely toxic

Average dose of venom ejected :  5mg

Maximum dose recorded      : 67mg

Median lethal dose for mice   :  0.0365mg/kg

Components of venom and envenomation

Neurotoxins, hemotoxins.

The eastern brown snake envenomations are characterized by DIC(disseminated intravascular coagulopathy) and VICC(venom-induced consumptive coagulopathy). Both cases can lead to haemorrhage, cardiovascular depression, renal failure, paralysis, hypotension, and collapse.

Death is mostly due to cardiovascular causes like cardiac arrest or intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding within the skull).

SEA SNAKES

Sea Snakes are more numerous than terrestrial venomous snakes. So for equality sake, we'll group them into one classification.

Sea Snakes(or coral reef snakes) are extremely venomous snakes belonging to the family elapidae and are common in tropical and subtropical regions bordering the Indian and Pacific oceans. The venoms of sea snakes contains potent neurotoxins which are some of the most toxic substances in the world. They are more toxic than venoms of terrestrial snakes, including rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cobras. Molecular weights of sea snakes neurotoxins are about 6800g/mol.

The Dubios's sea snake is the most venomous of them all, having a median lethal dose of 0.044mg/kg when injected subcutaneously to mice.

Dubios's sea snake

After the Dubios's sea snake comes the yellow bellied sea snake with a subcutaneous lethal dose of 0.067mg/kg. 

Yellow bellied sea snake

The last on the sea snake category is the Horned sea snake having a subcutaneous lethal dose of 0.079mg/kg.

Horned sea snake

COASTAL TAIPAN

Coastal Taipan

The coastal taipan is the 3rd most venomous terrestrial snake in the world with a subcutaneous lethal dose of 0.99mg/kg and a recorded venom yield of 400mg. Just behind the inland taipan and the eastern brown snake with lethal doses of 0.0225mg/kg and 0.0365mg/kg respectively. The eastern brown snake may produce venom twice as toxic as that of the coastal taipan, but the coastal taipan produces up to 20 times more venon than the eastern brown snake, and it far more aggressive than the inland taipan, therefore making the coastal taipan one of the most deadliest snakes on the planet in all perspective.

Like other extremely venomous snakes, the coastal taipan is also native to the coastal regions of northern and eastern Australia and also the island of New Guinea.

MANY BANDED KRAITS

This particular snake specie is generally found in the Asian regions including the central and southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and southeast Asia. They're highly noted for having black and white or black and yellow bands all through their length. Their venoms are highly toxic, containing both the pre and post-synaptic neurotoxins which usually bind to block neuromuscular transmission and inhibit the neurotransmitter release due to their specific enzymatic activities. 

VENOM REVIEW

Rating:  Highly toxic

Average yield:  4.6mg

Maximum recorded venom: 19.4mg

Median lethal dose for mice: 0.108mg/kg

Composition: presynaptic neurotoxins, post-synaptic neurotoxins.

CONGO WATER COBRA

The Congo water cobra is a semi-aquatic snake which spends much of it time in the water. It has a small geographical range, only occuring in just small portions of Western and southern democratic Republic of Congo  and some parts of Gabon and Angola. The Congo water cobra like other cobras is equally highly venomous with venom having deadly neurotoxic content. But with a subaneous lethal dose of 0.12mg/kg, the N. Christy venom is more toxic than other cobra species, even more than the Caspian cobra which was believed to hold that position. But since the N. Christy's venom is not extensively studied, many sources still regard the Caspian cobra as the most venomous cobra species.

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Top 10 deadliest animals on the planet | part-1

There are bunch of dangerous species out there, both on land, on air, and in the waters. Most of them harm other animals for foods, mating, and territorial ownership while most of them just apply their respective means of defense on other animals, which are also harmful to say.

A lot of factors contribute to how deadly an animal is, these factors can include;  size, bite force, speed, aggressiveness, weapon effectiveness, tactical skills, etc. For example, a cheetah can take advantage of it super speed to outrun and kill preys over long distances and also escape from other more powerful rivals (like the lion), and the crocodile can deploy both it stronger bite force and aggressiveness to make a firm grip on tougher preys and devour them.

Let explain three of these factors briefly:

1. Size 

The size and relative weight of an animal serves as an advantage, both in attacking other species, or defending itself from potential harm from rivals or predators. Size is always associated with strength, stamina, and intimidation. An animal having a larger size and weight is more capable of withstanding a pound for pound combat with another animal because of it ability to hold it ground. Larger species  generate influence around other species, maneuver their tactics, and crush them. Take an elephant for instance. The only predator known to attack the elephant is the lion. But it takes a full pride of lions to bring down a full grown elephant, unlike an antelope or a zebra.

2. Bite force 

 Bite force measures the amount of pressure exerted by an animals bite. A single bite from some animals can cause lots of damages to the body, including tearing the flesh apart or even breaking the bone. It all depends on the amount of pressure given by the bite. Animals with strong bite forces are also capable of making a firm and lasting grip on their victims, especially ones with a strong repellant force and impulsive abilities. Preys who are highly impulsive in motion(like the wild beast) or agile enough do often flip theirselves out and escape from the teeths of predators with a relatively weaker bite force, but that will be an impossible mission coming to predators with stronger bite force. 

3. Speed

The faster a predator can run, the lesser the chances of it prey  to escape and the deadlier it becomes to it preys. Preys with top speed, can outrun it predators and succeed in it escape mission, making it "slow" predator look less deadlier to him, but the moment it sights a faster predator, it charges to it top speed immediately. The cheetahs are known for their top speeds, which helps them to outrun and attack their preys even from a long distance.

Below is a countdown list of the 10 most deadliest animals in the world, based on the above factors and statistics.

• Black Mamba

Though species like the Inland Taipan or the king cobra are dangerous thanks to their respective venoms, the black mamaba is especially deadly due to its speed and aggression. Found in the savannas and rocky areas of southern and eastern Africa, the species (which can grow up to 14 feet long) is the fastest of all snakes, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 miles per hour, which makes escaping one in remote areas that much more difficult. Thankfully, black mambas usually only strike when threatened—but when they do, they’ll bite repeatedly, delivering enough venom (containing neuro- and cardiotoxins) in a single bite to kill ten people. And if one doesn’t receive the correlative antivenin within 20 minutes, the bites are almost 100 percent fatal.

Some factoids :

• Black Mamba is one of the few snakes who chase humans and bite them, primarily because of its territorial nature. They acts very aggressivly (when threatened). They do not tolerate humans or any other larger specie approaching more closely than about 40 metres (130 ft).
• To make matters worse, it is one of the fastest snakes in the earth, being able to move upto 5.5 meters (18 feet) per second. In certain situations it can chase down a running human.
• Black Mamba strikes multiple times. Literally ! No mercy whatsoever.
• Black mambas are highly venomous. It is considered lethal. Two drops of its venom can kill a full grown human being in less than 20 minutes.
• Black mamba can efficiently climb trees and they hunts during day and night due to their super night visions.

(Black Mamba)

I have added this link to a youtube video of a mamba killing a lion. You will see how, even after the lion saccumbs to the mamba’s venom, mamba keeps watch, and then after returns to strike repeatedly to make sure lion king is indeed dead.

• Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalo , which number around 900,000 and are found in sub-Saharan Africa, are a relatively mild species when left alone, preferring to travel in massive herds to graze in early morning and late afternoon hours or to gather around watering holes to stay hydrated. However, if an individual (or its calf) is threatened or wounded, they become the incarnation of their nickname: Black Death. Reportedly responsible for killing more hunters on the continent than any other creature, these behemoths, which can grow up to nearly six feet tall and weigh close to a ton, circle and stalk their prey before charging at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. They’re even known to continue charging no matter where they’re injured, and will not hesitate to attack moving vehicles. You don’t want to mess with those horns.

Black Death

The cape buffalo is also known to charge against their top predator (the lion), in most cases, killing or severly  injuring them.

• Crocodiles

  With a recorded bite force of 5000 pounds per square inch ( enough to bite through steel), this deadly reptile still holds the title for the strongest bite force ever measured in the animal kingdom. 

The observant person will notice that mercy did not figure in the reptilian brain.

Does that crocodile care that it is killing a small impala? Does it care a mother could be grieving or a baby is snatched to death before its time?

No. Reptiles don’t care for niceties like that.

They have no mercy. They’re not built for mercy. They’re unable to conceive of mercy and you know what? They have lived for hundreds of millions of years longer than primate

• Centipede

Alright, prepare yourself for the centipede chow-fest:

Alright, you get the idea.

Y’see, while, say, a lion stalks prey, analyzes it to see if it’s dangerous or not, and then decide to go in for the kill, centipedes aren’t as complex - and that’s what makes them frightening. When they smell prey, they just barrel towards it and attack, regardless of how big or dangerous it is. They’ll attack or eat just about anything that moves. They’re not monsters - that’s just how they’re wired. They’ll investigate any foreign scent and test-bite it, too, which is why they also eat carrion and rarely fruit.

They attack using their venomous claws - these modified legs stab into the prey and inject venom while the centipede wraps its body around the animal, trying to subdue it with its legs and keep it from struggling. If you’re lucky, the venom kills you not too long after. If you’re not lucky?

The centipede just eats you while you lay there helpless, even while you’re still alive.

Being eaten by a centipede isn’t very pleasant. They pull their prey apart with their venom claws and leisurely munch on it- this can occur even while the poor animal writhes about in pain.

So yeah. If I were to be eaten by any animal, I wouldn’t choose a centipede. Not at all.

• Polar Bear

See the picture below ? It is a polar bear eating a dolphin ! They love eating dolphins — they love eating anything, as long as it contains meat and blubber. And blood.

You might think that polar bear are land mammals, but that is not entirely true — in fact, they are considered to be aquatic mammals: they are the best swimmers of all land-animal-like mammals, and can easily swim a thousand miles (!!) without going to land. They can swim for a full week without stopping.

So in the water, nothing is safe from these fuckers as well.

Take beluga. What ? YES: beluga whales. Measuring up to 5.5 meters and weighing almost two tons.

Polar bear LOVE these guys. So they spot breathing holes in the ice, and wait. Until some beluga cannot wait any longer, and tries to catch a breath.

Big mistake !

If the polar bear cannot pull them out, they jump right in and hunt under water. No problem. Beluga taste too damn good !

Do you want to talk blubber. Do you really want to talk blubber ?

Think WALRUS. Males have giant tusks, and can weigh up to 4,400 pounds. Polar bear love to invite these blubbers to a nice romantic dinner !

Blubber, blood, skin, hair — what a feast !

Sometimes that isn’t even enough. And some big fat blubbery whale (almost) dies, and strands. And you know what will happen next …

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Top 10 fastest animals on earth

Life in the wild can sometimes prove to be so hostile and competitive, everyone has an enemy. One minute you're having dinner, the next minute you're someone else's dinner. One minute you own and control a territory, the next minute your territory is invaded and taken from you. Animals however possesses certain features for their immediate survival, both on the fields or deep in the oceans. One of these features is speed.

Speed is one of the most crucial feature an organism needs in other to survive anywhere in the wild. The structural features of some animals can thus make them drift at super speed, overtaking other animals in a deadly race. Animals do showcase their maximum speed when in mode of; attacking their preys, escaping from predators, powerful rivals, or avoiding other hazardous situations (like a fire outbreak) or just partaking in a race.

Below is a countdown list of the top 10 fastest animals, both on land, on air, or in the waters.

10. Blue wildebeest (50mph)

The blue wildebeest, the Thompson's gazelle, and the brown hare can all run at a top speed of about 80.5kph. Both animals do rely on high speed endurance running when evading predators.

Their top predator which is the lion can also sprint at the same speed, and it can be so exhausting for them. This therefore make lions to be close to their prey before commencing an attack.

9. Springbox (55mph)

The springbox is a medium-sized antelope specie found mostly in the southern and southwestern region of Africa, and can run at a top speed of 88kph. Another animal that can run at this speed, but at short distance is the Quater horse.

The Quater horse is an American breed of horse that are known with the ability to outrun other breed of horse over short distance races - about a quarter mile.

8. Pronghorn (60mph)

The pronghorn antelope is the second fastest land animal on Earth, being able to run at a top speed of 

98kph. The cheetah may be thus faster than the pronghorn when it comes to sprinting speed, but the pronghorn antelope can definitely outrun the cheetah, speaking of long-distance running.

7. Marlin (68mph)

The marlin is arguably the second fastest creature in the ocean. They swim at an average speed of 80kph, but there are extremely rare cases in which the malin fish is said to reach a swimming speed of 68mph/110kph.

6. Sail fish (70mph)

The sail fish is also arguably the fastest creature in the ocean, being able to dive at a record speed of around 113kph. 

Notable characteristics of sailfish are an erectile dorsal fin known as a sail and the elongated bill. It feeds on school fish such as sardines, anchovies and mackerel.”

some people believe a black marlin may be faster; most sources agree the sail fish is the fastest.

5. Cheetah (80mph)

 The cheetah is the fastest running animal on four legs. With it swift and elongated body, a cheetah is known with the ability to overtake even the fastest of preys,  being able to sprint at a super speed of about 120 - 130kph and accelerating from 0-100m/s in just 3secs. It's also capable of changing it directions very quickly, making it a very skilled hunter. But the cheetah can only sustain this record speed in a very short distance(about few miles). Hence, after the high speed run, a cheetah needs to take up to 15-20min to breathe, unless it'll die.

4. Spur-Winged Goose(88mph)

The Spur-Winged Goose is the largest specie of Goose and probably the largest waterfowl in the world. They're mostly found in the sub-saharan Africa occupying the wetlands. These massive  long-necked, bird is estimated to hit a speed of 142kph on air.

3. Frigate bird (95mph)

The frigate bird comes third on our list with an incredible speed of up to 153kph. The frigate bird is also known for it extremely long slender wings, spanning to about 2.3 metres (nearly 8 feet),  and also staying for up to a week aloft.

2.White-Throated Needletail (106mph)

The white-throated needletail, otherwise known as needle-tailed swift or spine-tailed swift, acquires the second place on our list. It capable of reaching a record speed of 171kph.

1. PEREGRINE FALCON (200mph)

The peregrine falcon is considered as the fastest Animal in the world. This bird is particularly swift, capable of reaching speeds of up to 322kph while at a dive, making it a fearsome hunter. Before diving, a peregrine falcon will fly to an altitude of over 3,500 feet and then bring its wings close to its body. During its descent, as its speed increases, one wing tends to be pushed forward, with its head tucked into that side, while the other wing is pulled back. The tail and feet will be folded or tucked in, making the bird's body more aerodynamic and minimizing air resistance

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