Today we are going to take you for a thrilling virtual tour to the world of the 20 most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world. Click to skip our introduction and methodology and jump to the top 10 most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world.

Snakes have always belonged to the world's mysterious and scary category of creatures. Humans have a strange relationship with snakes. We co-evolved with these carnivorous reptiles. They have been a part of our mythology, folklore and religions. There were several cultures which deemed snake a creature worthy of worship. These cultures regarded snakes as divine entities due to their renewal. The ancient Sumerians adored a snake god, called Ningishzida, while in Africa people worshipped a serpent, named Dahomey. Snakes, especially cobra, was the subject of ancient Egyptians' worship as well. Serpents could embody either the evil, or the good. In India, snake worship has a longstanding tradition, as "nagas" are ranked high in Hindu mythology. In ancient Rome we can also observe the tradition of snake worship, as the name of Marsian goddess Angitia origins from the word "serpent", and she was the goddess of snake-charmers, snakes and witches. Ancient Greece was not an exception either, as for their myth, Eurynome and Ophion (meaning serpent) ruled the world, before they were defeated by Rhea and Kronos. But over the course of centuries, there has been a decline in snake's reputation as a deity or a mythological creature as modern man is becoming aware of the dangers of being close to snakes. We don't like them, we fear of them and we exterminate them wherever we can.

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Before diving into the extraordinary, fearsome and mystical world of snakes, let's understand an important difference between the terms venomous and poisonous. What is the difference between these two terms? According to scientists, an organism is venomous if it stings or bites to inject their toxins, while poisonous organism discharges toxins when you consume them. In other words, a snake that bites you and injects its toxins is venomous. A good example for the term poisonous is mushrooms spreading their toxins while being eaten. Consequently, there are few really poisonous snakes in the world. Strictly speaking there is only one: the bite of the garter snake (Thamnophis) doesn't include dangerous toxins, but it's poisonous to eat, because its meat has toxins of its food: newts and salamanders.

When reading our article, you will see a special measurement unit, LD₅₀ (lethal dose 50%). It is used to show how potent the toxins are. Actually it means that several groups of animals are injected with a certain dose of the venom, either by mouth (force-feeding), by inhalation, or by injection in saline. The injection can be subcutaneous, or intravenous. Tested animals can be fish, birds, rats, mice, rabbits, cats, dogs and apes. The test ends when half of the tested animals in the group have perished. The LD₅₀ figure is given by the amount of test substance that slays the animals. Consequently, this is the figure that shows the toxicity rate of chemicals. However this test has several obstacles, and nowadays it's called unscientific and cruel. The test highly depends on the tested animal's age, diet, health condition, gender and strain. While making the research work for this article, we have found large differences among the LD₅₀ results of different laboratories. Despite of all this cruelty and inaccuracy, unfortunately there is no other test to measure the toxicity rate of chemicals. The test is repeated on more groups of animals and on other species in order to get an average LD₅₀ figure. As for snake venom toxicity, generally mice are used to obtain the accurate LD₅₀. LD₅₀ is not the most accurate figure to define how lethal the snake venom is for humans. Nevertheless it's widely used.

Despite the fact that about 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes annually, 2.7 million of them are envenomed, and the WHO calls snakebite an epidemic worldwide, there's an antivenom shortage in the world. The problem got into limelight when Médecins Sans Frontières (a.k.a. Doctors Without Borders) reported in 2015 that the last doses of antivenom Fav-Afrique, which is the treatment for the deadliest snakebites in Africa, were about to expire. It was because Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), the France-based mammoth pharma company, had allegedly determined in 2014 to decrease producing Fav-Afrique. This antivenom saved lives of thousands bitten by the most common and deadliest snakes in Africa, such as black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) in the sub-Saharan region or the carpet viper (Echis ocellatus). But the antivenom is no longer lucrative due to its high prime costs: $250-$500 per person.

Lack of infrastructure, hospitals, medical staff and declining buying power are some of the other key causes of lack of availability of anti-snake treatment. When an antivenom kit costs $100 and people in Africa try to survive by earning less than $2 a day, it's not difficult to imagine how many patients can afford to buy it. The antivenom kits usually need to be kept in the refrigerator, but electricity supply in many parts of Africa is unreliable. This shortage actually means that only 10% of patients can get proper treatment. Unfortunately, Sanofi wasn't the only company to reduce manufacturing antivenom. The company behind COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) also decided to cut its antivenom production. The humanity has to overcome not only the pandemics caused by viruses, but several other challenges. The biggest players in the antivenom market are Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE),Merck (NYSE:MRK), Bharat Serums and Vaccines Limited, Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd., BTG plc. Laboratorios Silanes, CSL Limited, Vins Bioproducts Limited, Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd., and Rare Disease Therapeutics Inc. According to projections, global antivenom market is projected to reach $729.9 million by 2026. If you are interested, read about the 15 largest vaccine companies in the world.

The Benefits of Snake Venom?

Snake venom is extremely useful for the production of medicines. See what Dr. Zoltan Takacs, a biomed scientist, designer of toxins, Nat Geo explorer, has to say about this:

In order to compile our list of the most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world, we consulted Australian Venom Research Unit. We also took some help in our research from Untamed Science's venomous snakes article, written by Carl H. Earnst and George R. Zug. Furthermore, we used several studies to compare LD₅₀ figures to those in the two above mentioned sources. We noticed that there were pretty large differences among labs and results, so we relied on the two primary sources mentioned above. The differences stem from the fact that LD₅₀ test results can vary because of the tested animals' age, gender, strain, diet and so on. If you live in or are planning to visit America, we recommend you to read 10 states with the most venomous snakes in America.

Let's begin our thrilling list of 20 most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world:

20. Russell's viper (Daboia russelii)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.75

Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 130-250

Distribution: India, Srí Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tibet, China, Cambodia, Taiwan

This is one of the most well-known snakes in the world. Various nature documentaries mention Russell's viper. The lethal dose for an average grown person is between 40-70 mg. After this snake's bite, victim feels a sharp pain at the site of the bite, which swells at once, followed by bleeding. As blood pressure falls, the victim's heart rate drops. The following symptoms are very common: facial swelling, blistering, vomiting, and kidney failure. If the victim gets early treatment, lethal complications can be drastically reduced. The patient can experience severe pain for 2-4 weeks. In case of massive envenomation cardiac, respiratory or kidney failure are experienced, which leads to death after the bite within 1-14 days, or even later.

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19. Common mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.26

Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 60.0 – 95.0

Distribution: Southern Africa, East Africa

This snake usually avoids meeting humans, but during the breeding season from September to February, they can be pretty irritable. After being bitten, the victim can experience severe pain and the site gets swollen, which leads to gangrene, nausea, vomiting, difficulty in swallowing and breathing, and sometimes paralysis. Death can occur within 30 minutes after envenomation.

Pixabay/Public domain

18. Saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.24 Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 5.0 – 48.0 Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Middle East, Africa

Its venom comprises four types of toxins, including cytotoxins, neurotoxins, hemotoxins and cardiotoxins. They live in quiet areas. They are usually active during the night. The lethal dose is between 3-5 mg for an adult.

Pixabay/Public domain

17. Black-necked cobra (Naja nigricollis)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.23

Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 150.0 – 350.0

Distribution: sub-Saharan Africa

Black-necked cobra ranks 17th on the list of 20 most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world. Its venom is strong, and symptoms after biting can be necrosis, external bleeding, and difficulties in breathing. However, mortality rate is low, between 5%-10%.

Pixabay/Public domain

16. Ringhal/Rinkhal cobra (Hemachatus haemachatus)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.22 Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 80.0 – 120.0 Distribution: South Africa

This cobra is an aggressive species, and when attacking, it aims the victim's facial area. If the venom gets into the eyes, it causes severe pain. Common symptoms are nausea, drowsiness, abdominal pain, among others.

Pixabay/Public domain

15. Ottoman viper (Vipera xanthina)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.21 Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 8.0 – 18.0 Distribution: Greece, Turkey

Ottoman viper stands on the 15th spot in the 20 most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world list. It's a very aggressive, cantankerous snake. It will attack without being provoked. The vast majority of bites injects venom into the wound. It's length is between 70–95 cm (27.6-37.4 in), but sometimes it can grow up to 130 cm (51.2 in).

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14. Harlequin coral snake (Micrurus fulvius)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.2 Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 3.0 – 5.0 Distribution: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Luisiana,

This snake's bite can cause paralysis and respiratory failure. The victim can feel double vision, slurred speech. Nevertheless, its bites and attacks are rare. In the United States there are only 100 bites occur a year from this snake. However, the mortality rate is between 10%-20%, causing death between 2 hours and 26 hours after bite. Unfortunately Wyeth stopped producing the coral snake antivenom 11 years ago, citing declining profits. Pfizer decided to do the same for similar reasons.

Patrick K. Campbell/Shutterstock.com

13. Egyptian cobra (Naja haje)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.19 Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 175.0 – 300.0 Distribution: Egypt

Egyptian cobra stands ranks 13th on our list of the most deadliest and dangerous snakes across the globe. This snake's bite causes bruising, blistering, severe swelling, abdominal pain, diarrhea, paralyses. Unlike other cobras, it doesn't spit the victim with venom.

Pixabay/Public domain

12. Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.18 Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 50.0-150.0 Distribution: Southwestern United States, Mexico

The Mojave rattlesnake is among the most venomous snakes across the globe. Actually, chances of survival are good if the victim can get antivenom as soon as possible. Cases of this snake's bites are reported commonly in the Red Mountain area, California.

Ryan M. Bolton/Shutterstock.com

11. Beaked sea snake (Enhydrina schistosa)

Subcutaneous LD₅₀ (Mg/kg): 0.164

Venom Yield/Bite (Mg): 7.9-9.0

Distribution: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Vietnam, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf

Its main habitats are the coast and coastal islands of India. This snake is one of the most common 20 snakes in India. They are active almost all the time during the day, and can survive under water for five hours, and dive even up to 100 meters under the surface of water. They are extremely aggressive.

To read about the rest of the snakes in this list click top 10 most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world. See also:

• 10 states with no or least poisonous snakes in America

• 10 most common snakes in America

Disclosure: No position. 20 most deadliest and dangerous snakes in the world is originally published at Insider Monkey.