Death adders are fascinating snakes surrounded by fascinating old folk stories and beliefs. Because of their superficial resemblance to vipers, both in appearance and behaviour, the common name “death adder” stuck with them, despite the fact that these proteroglyphous species (possessing fixed fangs as opposed to vipers have movable fangs) belong to the family Elapidae, along with all other Australian venomous terrestrial snakes.

Elapid snakes are not unique to Australia: in other countries this family is represented by well-known species such as cobras, mambas and kraits. Australian death adders are descendants of the original Gondwana stock, well adapted to our dry climate. We currently recognise three species of death adders: two of these are endemic to Australia and one is also found in Papua New Guinea and islands west as far as the island of Ceram in Indonesia. 

The Northern death adder (Acanthophis praelongus) is a small, slender snake averaging about 40 centimetres in length. Its colour can range from pale brown, any shade of gray to almost black, while red individuals are not uncommon. This species is found in the tropical zone of northern Australia and has also limited distribution in Papua New Guinea and some of the Pacific islands. A significant fauna exchange occurred about 15 million years ago, during the Pleistocene, when the Asian and Australian continents were joined by a land bridge. The Northern death adder was just one of many species of snakes that expanded its distribution.

The largest of the three species, The Common death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) reaches up to one metre in length and has the widest distribution. It is found along the east coast, from northern Victoria in the south, all the way to north Queensland except for the far north. The records from north Queensland are sporadic and somewhat dubious because smaller individuals belonging to this species are not easily distinguishable from the Northern death adder, which is smaller in size and more slender.