Editor's note

They’re matched in prowess – both snakes are the alphas on their respective continents. Africa’s Black Mamba has the upper hand on venom, but Australia’s Inland Taipan is stronger. In natural circumstances, the two would never meet. But thrown together in the ring, who would emerge victorious?

One reader of The Conversation, Biswajit Tripathy, sent us this question. And University of Melbourne snake expert Timothy Jackson explored the answer from all angles. As he explains, the most likely reason they’d get into a biff in the first place is if one snake was trying to eat the other. But they don’t fight clean, and will wrestle and bite to overpower the other.

So which snake would win? The answer is a lot simpler than you might have thought.

Anthea Batsakis

Deputy Editor: Environment + Energy

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Wes Mountain/The Conversation

I’ve always wondered: who would win in a fight between the Black Mamba and the Inland Taipan?

Timothy N. W. Jackson, University of Melbourne

In the blue corner is the extremely venomous Black Mamba – top snake of Africa – and in the red corner is the muscular Inland Taipan – Australia's alpha snake.

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