Geometry: A preprocessed RESOLVE terrestrial ecoregions (2017) snapshot served by ChaseDesk, with the live ArcGIS service as backup. The snapshot uses simplified boundaries for fast loading. Readings remain editorial estimates. Ecological areas with the same leading species share one colour and have no permanent internal borders. To keep the map responsive, detailed polygons are simplified for display and drawn incrementally. Only a few prominent labels appear at once. Different neighbouring winning species are assigned contrasting colours using a perceptual colour-distance check in a background worker. Natural Earth supplies a faint land fallback; some blending may remain where source datasets overlap. Local rankings remain editorial estimates, not verified species ranges.
Winner: a provisional editorial severity score modified by ecological realm, habitat and coarse distribution rules. These are not observed encounters or measured attack probabilities. An animal may be absent from some mapped areas. Top-five lists are unverified candidates.
Descriptions and danger: concise editorial summaries for all 63 animals. A label such as “Very high” comes from the project's pre-existing, unvalidated editorial danger score. It is not a measured attack rate, scientific mortality probability or local safety forecast. Severity and likelihood of an encounter are different questions. Snakes may cause paralysis, bleeding or tissue injury, depending on species. WHO snakebite background.
Photos: retrieved from iNaturalist taxon listings, with available creator and licence attribution. No user uploads.
In Antarctica and remote islands, very low-threat species can still be listed. Some inland polar areas lack resident wildlife. No map can honestly promise verified species presence on every square metre.
Ecoregions source · Range limitations · What danger means