What’s The Most Venomous Creature Of All Time? DEBUNKED

since time immemorial humans have consistently displayed a bizarre and frankly foolish fascination with dangerous animals creatures with the ability to injure maim and straight-up kill us in a variety of fun and unusual ways have beguiled humankind for millennia but it's one particular method of mayhem that we'll be looking at today venom but which of the animal kingdom's snappiest steadiest critters is the most venomous of them all I'm Stu this is debunked and we're here to solve the truths and the myths and the facts from the misconceptions first off we're gonna need to figure out exactly what we mean by a venomous animal the word venomous is often mixed up with a related term poisonous though both words are used to refer to animals that produce toxins there is an important distinction between the two turns out it's all in the delivery venomous animals administer their harmful payload by biting or stinging their target while poisonous animals merely secrete toxins passively put simply if you bite it and you die it's poisonous if it bites you and you die it's venomous it's also worth pointing out that some particularly fearsome animals such as certain species of snakes and frogs are both poisonous and venomous so that's fun now that we know exactly what it takes to be a venom-injecting monster which animal scurrying around out there in the dense jungles scorching deserts and treacherous oceans of the world can lay claim to the chilling accolade of the most venomous of them all well once again we've run into some more bureaucracy as we are forced to ask ourselves what exactly makes an animal the most venomous is it the venoms potency the amount of venom that a particular animal can deliver or do we just look at the beasty that's racked up the most kills in the all time venom killer scoreboard if we're looking at the most potent venom on earth we need to learn a little about something called median lethal dose also known as ld50 an abbreviation of lethal dose 50% this refers to the amount of venom needed to kill half the members of a tested population meaning the lower the score the stronger the venom however the strength of the venom also depends on several other factors including who or what the venomous animal was attacking and where on their body they are bitten or stung what may be extremely toxic to humans may have little or no effect on other animals and different toxins behave very differently when administered to the various parts of a victim's body for instance the Bruno's cascaded frog a recently discovered species of frog endemic to the forests of Brazil has been found to possess venom with an ld50 as low as naught point 1 6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight scaled-up that means that one gram of this little rascals venom could theoretically kill as many as 80 people but before we throw the book at this murderous scallywag we must also consider the fact that its venom only manages to achieve this level of carnage when it's injected directly into the victims abdominal cavity in the real world this species of frog delivers its potent injection of venom through tiny bony spikes on its skull which it pokes into its victims using adorable little head butts this method of delivery only manages to administer the venom just underneath the skin or subcutaneous Lea which makes a deadly cocktail of toxins over ten times weaker ultimately despite its ability to produce extremely potent venom the delivery method and small dosage make it unlikely that this species of frog could ever kill a human still we can certainly look at which animals produce the most potent death inducing juices and my my what a motley crew of assassins we have before us we have animals like the Black Mamba so-called for the inky black inside of its mouth which possesses venom that can kill humans in less fifteen minutes and also happens to be the world's fastest land snake capable of moving at speeds of almost 20 kilometers per hour with the average human running speed varying from 10 to 25 kilometers per hour I'll let you decide whether you can outrun this killer or not or we could talk about the snazzy blue ringed octopus a tiny little cephalopod decorated all over in hypnotic flashing blue rings that uses an often painless bite to deliver a venom over 1,000 times as toxic as cyanide perhaps we could talk about the Deathstalker which despite being one of the world's deadliest species of scorpion possesses a venom found to be helpful in the treatment of brain tumors in humans ultimately most sources identified the winner in the most potent venom pageant as the gelatinous blob of hell now known as the box jellyfish individuals of this species possess an extremely dangerous venom that works by opening up holes in their victims red blood cells causing potassium to leak out into the bloodstream the leakage of massive amounts of potassium from red blood cells is one of the worst things that could happen in the body as a result not only does the venom of the box jellyfish produce excruciating pain in its victims it also prompts cardiac arrest that can lead to death in as little as two minutes in some cases swimmers unfortunate enough to be stung by a box jellyfish have drowned before they could even make it back to shore and so with an ld50 as low as naught point naught four milligrams per kilogram numerous scientists as well as jellyfish expert dr. angel yanagihara have claimed the box jellyfish is the most venomous animal in the world you think that would be the end of it discussion over that's perhaps not unsurprisingly there remains some disagreement within the scientific community regarding the winner of the most potent venom accolade by some estimates the venom of Australia's inland Taipan boasts an ld50 as low as naught point naught to 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight simultaneously making it the most toxic venom snake on earth and nudging this snake species just slightly ahead of the box jellyfish in terms of potency however some research suggests that the world's most powerful venom actually comes from an entirely different and perhaps unexpected creature say hello to the geography cone snail a small species of sea snail that produces a truly terrifying venom with an ld50 as low as naught point naught 1 2 milligrams per kilogram at this level of toxicity the venom found within a single geography cone snail is enough venom to kill roughly 700 people indeed the venom of the geography cone snail is so extremely toxic that it's even been identified as a danger to public safety due to its potential use in biological weapons of mass destruction regardless there's more to venom than its potency as another important factor in how dangerous a venomous animal might be is the sheer amount of venom it can inject into its victims the king cobra for instance is capable of injecting his victims with as much as 7 milliliters or roughly 1/2 teaspoons of venom in a single bite considering the fact that these snakes which are found throughout much of India and Southeast Asia often bite 3 or 4 times in a single attack the amount of venom it could potentially inject into his unlucky target may well trump the more toxic bites of other species even so the king cobra doesn't have to rely on quantity alone while its venom lacks the extreme potency of those produced by the most extreme toxic no Tropes a single bites worth of venom is still enough to kill 20 people or even a fully grown elephant in as little as three hours but when it comes to which animal produces the largest amounts of venom unfortunately the answer is far from definitive most sources list some species of snake as the likely record holder offering up candidates such as the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake found in southeastern United States as well as aforementioned species such as the king cobra and the inland Taipan regardless is believed that the world's number one venom crater is the gap of Viper a menacing serpent found throughout a large region of Central Africa that carries around up to nine point seven milliliters of venom ready to envenomate some unsuspecting target not only that the gaboon viper also has the largest fangs of any snake measuring up to five centimeters or about two inches in length ultimately however producing extremely potent venom or extremely large amounts of it doesn't necessarily make an animal the most deadly statistically speaking many of the uber venomous creatures we've mentioned on this list are responsible for relatively few human deaths this is partly because of advances in medical science that have prevented envenomated individuals from dying but also simply because we may not encounter these animals particularly often in the first place for example if we go back for a moment to our old friend the geography cone snail it is interesting to note that despite its ability to produce probably the most potent animal venom on the face of the planet there are less than 40 recorded cases of people dying after having being stung by one like ever similarly the previously mentioned inland Taipan producer of the world's most potent snake venom actually very rarely kills humans despite the fact that they possess venom that kills 80% of untreated human victims inland Taipans are generally speaking exceedingly shy reclusive and non-confrontational snakes that will almost always slither away from disturbances rather than throw down that's right the most potently venomous snake on earth is an introvert on the other hand between the year 2000 and 2017 stings from members of the insect order Hymenoptera which includes bees wasps hornets and ants led to deaths of well over 1,100 people in the United States alone this is both because stings and bites from insects are obviously more common and because although the Venom's that these animals produce is relatively weak they can sometimes trigger life-threatening allergic reactions as a result most of the venomous animals that pose the biggest threat to humans possess relatively wimpy venom with that in mind we can really open up the question and simply ask which venomous creature kills the most humans using venom regardless of scent Venom's potency without zeroing in on a specific species once again the Serpent's reign supreme er according to the World Health Organization snakebites calls up to a staggering 150,000 deaths worldwide every single year of the venomous snakes the species responsible for the most human kills is the very observant ly named saw-scaled Viper found throughout northern Africa the Middle East and India the source called Viper is thought to be responsible for more human deaths than all other snake species combined primarily because of its aggressive nature and its frequent presence in populated areas and so the search for the world's most venomous animal throws up a number of deserving winners each capable of killing you in mere minutes if you so much as look at them funny as it turns out the animals that produce the most venom and have the highest body counts are snakes which perhaps isn't all that surprising given their formidable reputation but in terms of the species that produces the most powerful venom on earth legitimate evidence points towards the geography cone snail and despite facing tough competition from yet another serpent and the world's most dangerous floating box of goo aka the box jellyfish so whether we crown an honorary or FID Ian or an entirely unnecessarily toxic snail we hope you've enjoyed learning all about the interesting and highly lethal world of venom given the current situation I doubt it's just me spending a lot more time on the internet right now let us know in the comments how you're wiling away the hours if like me you're doing everything online from grocery and toilet paper shopping to going to the theater and taking part in pub quizzes then it's important to make sure you stay safe online 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Channel: Debunked

Views: 373,348

Rating: 4.9180217 out of 5

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Id: eXohdewSZa4

Length: 14min 26sec (866 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 19 2020