King Cobra Snake

King cobra

Captive specimen at the Cincinnati Zoo

Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Elapidae

Genus: Ophiophagus

Species: O. hannah

Binomial name

Ophiophagus hannah

Distribution of the king cobra

Synonyms

Genus-level:

Dendroaspis Schlegel, 1837

Hamadryas Cantor, 1838 (non Hübner, 1804: preoccupied)

Naja Elliott, 1840

The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is an elapid found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia. This species is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 18.5 to 18.8 ft (5.6 to 5.7 m).[2] Despite the word "cobra" in its common name, this snake is not a member of the Naja genus ("true cobras"), which contains most cobra species, but the sole member of its own genus. It preys chiefly on other snakes and occasionally on some other vertebrates, such as lizards and rodents. The king cobra is a dangerous snake that has a fearsome reputation in its range,[3][4][5] although it typically avoids confrontation with humans when possible.[3] The king cobra is also culturally significant, with many legends and associations with Hindu gods around it in some Indian cultures.[6]

Description

The king cobra averages at 3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13.1 ft) in length and typically weighs about 6 kg (13 lb). The longest known specimen was kept captive at the London Zoo, and grew to around 18.5 to 18.8 ft (5.6 to 5.7 m) before being euthanised upon the outbreak of World War II. The heaviest wild specimen was caught at Royal Island Club in Singapore in 1951, which weighed 12 kg (26 lb) and measured 4.8 m (15.7 ft), though an even heavier captive specimen was kept at New York Zoological Park and was measured as 12.7 kg (28 lb) at 4.4 m (14.4 ft) long in 1972.[7] King cobras are sexually dimorphic in size, with males reaching larger sizes than females. The length and mass of the snakes highly depend on their localities and some other factors. Despite their large sizes, typical king cobras are fast and agile.[8] Some viper species, such as the eastern diamondback rattlesnake and the Gaboon viper, often much shorter in length but bulkier in build, rival the king cobra in average weight and reportedly best them in maximum weight.[7]

Scalation of the king cobra

The skin of this snake is either olive-green, tan, or black, and it has faint, pale yellow cross bands down the length of the body. The belly is cream or pale yellow, and the scales are smooth. Juveniles are shiny black with narrow yellow bands (can be mistaken for a banded krait, but readily identified with its expandable hood). The head of a mature snake can be quite massive and bulky in appearance, though like all snakes, it can expand its jaws to swallow large prey items. It has proteroglyph dentition, meaning it has two short, fixed fangs in the front of the mouth, which channel venom into the prey like hypodermic needles. The average lifespan of a wild king cobra is about 20 years.[9]

The dorsal scales along the centre of the king cobra's body have 15 rows. Males have 235 to 250 ventral scales, while females have 239 to 265. The subcaudal scales are single or paired in each row, numbering 83 to 96 in males and 77 to 98 in females.[8]