Everyone knows cobras, rattlesnakes and coral snakes, but there are plenty of venomous snakes around the world that are seldom heard of. This is a small selection of these unknown, and often deadly, species.

Although related to true cobras, the water cobra actually belongs to a different genus and gets its name after its ability to flatten its ribs to form a “hood”, similar to that of their more famous relatives. There are two species, the best known being the ringed water cobra. Water cobras are found in Africa, and can grow up to 2.7 meters (8.86 feet) long. They are indeed mostly aquatic, never wandering far away from the water, and can remain submerged for a long time. Very venomous, but shy; will only bite if provoked. This snake is not to be confused with the Giant water cobra, or false cobra (Hydrodynastes), from South America, which, although larger, isn’t nearly as dangerous.


The Mamushi is Japan’s most dangerous snake; it is also found in Korea and China. It belongs to the pitviper family along with the rattlesnake and the American copperhead. It can grow up to 90 cms (3ft) long, but is usually smaller; nevertheless, it is highly dangerous due to its hemorrhagic venom, delivered through long, retractable fangs. It feeds mostly on fish, frogs and small mammals, and is viviparous.




With their short, thick bodies and large, flattened heads, these pitvipers are highly reminiscent of African species such as the Gaboon viper and the puff-adder. They are found in the rainforests of Mexico and Central America, and have been said to attack with such force that they actually lift their body from the ground. However, they are rather shy and will only strike if harassed. They do, however, bite with greater force than other vipers, and instead of quickly biting and retreating, they often hold on to their enemy and chew to deliver as much venom as possible. Mexican jumping vipers can grow up to 1.2 meters (4ft) long and their venom has an anticoagulant effect in human blood.


These snakes (not true cobras) get their name from their striking coloration and ability to flatten their neck into a hood. They are found in Africa and are highly venomous, but have short fangs and poor eyesight due to their mainly burrowing lifestyle. Even so they should be avoided, for there is no known antidote for their bite. They feed on lizards and small mammals.





This interesting-looking viper is found in African rainforests. Its scales are keeled and give it a spiny or bristly appearance. This snake is highly venomous and there is no known antidote against its bite; antivenom used for other snake species bites have little or no effect in spiny tree viper victims. Therefore, this small (40-70 cms long, or 1.3-2.3ft) but dangerous snake should be treated with a lot of respect.







Another native to Mexico, Central and South America, the hognosed viper is small (75 cms or 2.5ft long) but has highly hemotoxic venom (it destroys blood cells and vessels). These snakes are little known and found mostly in rainforests, often in coastal areas.








Perhaps one of the strangest snakes of all, this burrowing species found in Africa has fangs so long that they actually protrude out of the mouth, like saberteeth. This allows the snake to bite its prey without even opening its mouth. Small and with terrible eyesight, the burrowing asp is usually not deadly to adult humans but children have been known to die as the result of its bite.





These slender snakes are found in Africa and belong to the family Colubridae, which is usually not known for its dangerous members (although the boomslang, another African species, is one of the deadliest snakes in the world). Just like the boomslang, the twig snake has its venomous fangs in the rear part of the mouth, which makes it less dangerous than cobras or pitvipers; however, its venom is highly toxic and deadly to humans. Famous German herpetologist Robert Mertens was killed by one of these snakes which he kept as a pet. Twig snakes feed mostly on lizards and birds and get their name from their ability to mimic a twig in a tree, even swaying softly as if moved by wind. They are thus very difficult to spot.



Despite their name and appearance, these snakes are not true vipers, but rather members of the Elapidae family which also includes cobras and coral snakes. Death adders are found in Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and they have one of the most potent venoms of all snakes. Fortunately, there is now an antivenom specific to this snake, which has greatly decreased the number of victims in Australia. In New Guinea, however, many people still die of death adder bite every year. Death adders are well known in Australia, but seldom heard of in the rest of the world.


Found in the Brazilian island of Queimada Grande, this pitviper evolved in a habitat where the only available prey were birds (the island has no native mammals); to prevent them from flying away, the golden lancehead developed an incredibly strong, quick acting venom. The island of Queimada Grande is the only place in the world where these pitvipers can be found; but their population is so dense that the island has been declared a restricted area by the Brazilian government. It is easily one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Although officially there have been no recorded human deaths caused by golden lanceheads, people living near the island tell tales about people who were in Queimada Grande and met horrible ends; a man who went to pick bananas on the island was later found laying on his boat in a puddle of his own blood, after being bitten by one or more lanceheads.
But perhaps the most famous story is about the last operator of the island’s old lighthouse; according to the story, one night, the operator and his family (wife and three children) saw the lanceheads entering through a window. Terrified, they fled the lighthouse and tried to reach a boat to escape the island, but they didn’t go far; they were bitten by the numerous snakes hanging from branches overhead.

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Who hasn’t heard of a tyrannosaurus Rex or a velociraptor thanks to movies like Jurassic Park? When we think of dinosaurs, we almost all think of a very small subset of these giant creatures from history. But perhaps more interesting are those which are far less familiar to us all. This list is just a small selection of monstrous or weird-looking creatures from ancient times, most of which are little known to the public.


This is a fairly well known prehistoric monster, but it is just so big and scary that it deserves to be in this list. Megalodon (technically called a Carcharocles megalodon) was a gigantic shark, closely related to today’s makos and great whites. It could grow up to 20 meters long and weigh up to 60 tons, being almost six times larger than Tyrannosaurus rex! Obviously, the only thing in the sea big enough to feed Megalodon where whales, and indeed, the giant shark’s bite marks have been found in the fossil remains of whales all around the world. Although many people like to imagine encounters between Megalodon and T-Rex, or dinosaur-like marine reptiles, the truth is Megalodon appeared long after the extinction of such creatures, and it wasn’t seen alive by any humans either, although it was still roaming the oceans when our australopithecine relatives took their first steps out of the jungle.

Since the formidable Smilodon (better known as saber-toothed tiger) is too well known, we have decided to go for a refreshing change. Enter Xenosmilus, possibly the nastiest feline ever to have existed. The remains of this very large cat (the size of a lion or tiger, but more robust) were recently found in Florida along with the remains of many unlucky giant peccaries (similar to wild pigs) that fell prey to it. Instead of strangling prey or breaking their neck as lions do, or stabbing them as the sabertoothed tiger did, Xenosmilus acted more like a shark or a carnivorous dinosaur, biting off a huge chunk of flesh and causing massive blood loss and shock in a matter of seconds. Compared to modern day felids, a Xenosmilus’ kill would probably be extremely bloody; so much in fact that it would probably not be shown in Animal Planet! Since we don’t know when exactly Xenosmilus became extinct, we can’t tell if humans ever met this cat, or fell prey to it.

Pulmonoscorpius
This is by far the smallest creature of the list, but it would still cause hysteria, and perhaps even some heart attacks, if it showed up today. It was very similar to today’s scorpions but could grow up to one meter long, perhaps more, and was armed with sharp chelae (claws) and a venomous stinger. Of course, we don’t know how toxic its venom was, but considering the considerable amount it injected with each attack, it was most likely a very deadly critter indeed. A predator, Pulmonoscorpius roamed the swampy forests of the Carboniferous in what is today Scotland. Just so you know, during the Carboniferous there were also giant roaches the size of house cats, dragonflies the size of hawks, and centipede-relatives up to three meters long. No kidding.

Azhdarchids were a kind of pterosaur (most popularly known as pterodactyls) which included the largest flying creatures ever to have existed. Some of them had wingspans of 12 to 15 meters, making them as large as a small plane (although they were obviously not as heavy). But what makes Azhdarchids really strange are their body proportions; they had ridiculously long legs, necks and beaks, and very small bodies, as well as relatively short wings. Scientists believe that they did not hunt on the wing, but rather walked on the ground hunting for any animal they could catch and swallow whole- that included dog-sized, perhaps even man-sized creatures! Standing on all fours, the largest Azhdarchids were as tall as a modern day giraffe… and almost as tall as a T-Rex.

Madtsoia
Madtsoia would be the worst nightmare of anyone with a phobia of snakes. Although only fragmentary remains are known, it is claimed to have reached the immense length of 15-20 meters! This creature appeared in the Cretaceous period and possibly dined on dinosaurs. It was similar to today’s boas and pythons in that it was not venomous, but rather squeezed its victims to death using its immense muscular strength. Madtsoia was such a successful predator, that it managed to survive the extinction that wiped out dinosaurs and other animals, but it finally went extinct about 45 million years ago. Other giant snakes are known to have existed, including one that was said to reach 29 meters in length!

Terror birds, formally known as Phorusrhacids, were the top predators in South America and parts of North America during the Miocene, Pliocene and Early Pleistocene periods, before they were replaced by big cats and other carnivorous mammals. They were unable to fly, but could run very fast (as fast as a cheetah, according to some scientists!) and were very large; the largest species could grow up to three meters tall and weigh up to half a ton. Their main weapon was their head, which could be up to one meter long, allowing them to swallow prey as large as a dog in one single gulp! However, thanks to the hooked tip of the bill, similar to that of eagles and hawks, the terrors birds could kill and devour prey much larger than a dog, including horses, camels, etc.

Epicyon
Epicyon could well be described as a giant pitbull on steroids. It was a member of the Canidae or dog family, but whereas modern day canids are built for speed and endurance, Epicyon was built for brute strength, and had jaws so powerful that they could crush bone as if they were crackers! This beast ruled the plains of North America for fifteen million years, before it was replaced by big cats (including sabertooths).