Ophiophagus hannah, King Cobra
Ophiophagus hannah, commonly known as King Cobra, sometimes as the hamadryad, is one of the deadliest
species of snakes falling under the family Elapidae. Like other serpents, king
cobra also receives chemical information via its forked tongue, which
picks up scent particles and transfers them to sensory receptor i.e.,
Jacobson's organ positioned at the roof of their mouth. Besides it has also
very keen eyesight; for that reason they are able to detect moving prey at a
distance (100 m ).
After injecting venom, the king cobra gulps its whole prey with the help of
their flexible jaws. The species is diurnal in nature but are capable of
hunting entire day, however can be sighted a night rarely. These snakes prefer
to live in dense or open forest; bamboo brushes, nearby agricultural ranges and
dense mangrove mires. They stay close to streams for constant humidity and
temperature. However they spend most of their time on trees or bushes. To
astound a rival, male king cobras resort to grappling where male combat in king
cobras is a ritual engagement in which the first one to drive the other's head
to the ground wins.
Literature Cited:
Acharji, M.N., and Kripalani, M.B. 1952. On a collection of Reptilia and Batrachia from the Kangra and Kulu Valleys, Western Himalayas. Records of Indian Museum, 49 (2): 175-184.
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| Adult King Cobra (Source: Wikipedia) |
Scientific classification
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Kingdom:
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Animalia
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Phylum:
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Chordata
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Class:
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Reptilia
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Order:
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Squamata
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Suborder:
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Serpentes
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Family:
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Elapidae
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Genus:
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Ophiophagus
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species:
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hannah
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Binomial name
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Ophiophagus hannah Cantor, 1836
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| Conservation status | |
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It feeds primarily on other snakes
(like rat snake, pythons, true cobras, kraits Malabar pit viper and hump-nosed
pit viper) and sometimes on some other vertebrates,
like lizards and rodents. King cobras generally avoid
confrontation with humans whenever possible but side to side has reputation of
dangerous snake in its range. King cobra only attacks people in self-defense or
to protect its eggs when cornered. This behavior is not true for nesting
females, which might attack without any provocation. On sensing threat, these
snakes raise their anterior body upto about 3-4feet off the ground and are also
capable of following in the same position for considerable distances. It is a
prominent figure in the mythos of India, Myanmar
and Sri Lanka. It is the
national reptile of India.
The key factor for identification of
the species is the presence of a duo of large scales over the top of head
acknowledged as occipitals, which are behind the usual "nine-plate"
arrangement like in colubrids and elapids.
Head is large having round snout,
shielded with large scales and is slightly broader than neck. Eyes are large
eyes having round pupil. Dorsally the body of the specimens is dark olive or
brown color having black, white or yellow cross bands, where the head is black
in color having two crossbars close to snout and behind the eyes. The whole
body is shielded with large sized smooth scales (17-19:15:15). The color of the
body varies according to geographic locations. The bands of hood region are of inverted
“V” shaped. The belly is usually of pale yellow or grayish color having dark
shades on edge of many ventral scales (235-254), where the subcaudals are
84-104 (fore scales undivided & later scales divided). The tail in these
specimens is long having pointed tip.
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| Key identification characters (Source: Wikipedia) |
King cobra shows sexual dimorphism in size, having male individuals attaining
longer sizes than females, which is an infrequent trait among snakes whose
females are usually longer.
Adult king cobras can grow upto 3-4 meters in
length. However, the longest acknowledged specimen measured about 5.85 m. Although
the word cobra used in its common name in spite of this, they do not fall under genus Naja
but belong to its own
genus (Ophiophagus: is
a Greek-derived word which means "snake-eater"). King Cobras are the sole member of
its own genus. Ophiophagus is a
monotypic genus. King Cobras can be distinguished from other cobras of
Naja genus by his size and hood as they are larger in size and the stripe on
the neck is chevron instead of a double or single eye shapes found in other
cobras.
This
species is unusual among snakes; the females of this species are very devoted
parent. This is the only species in snakes around the globe that make nest by
aggregating fallen tree leaves and other wreckage, and stays in there until the young hatches.
Females keep guarding the nest obstinately by rising up their hoods, if any
large animal gets too close. The eggs are incubated at a constant
temperature of 28 °C inside the nest & soon after hatching starts, the
female leaves the nest. Venom in juvenile king cobras is as lethal as that of
the grownups. The venom of this is neurotoxic. They appear brightly discernible
which often fade as they grow. The behaviors of juveniles are excessively alert
due to nervousness are are highly aggressive if troubled.
In this species incubation period
occurs for about 50- 79 days, during which 12-51 eggs are laid and guarded by
females during the whole incubation period. The juveniles are recorded 31-
73 cm (12-29 inches) long & weigh up to 40 g.
It is the world’s longest venomous
snakes. King cobras are endemic to the forest ranging from India through
Southeast Asia, including, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Burma, China,
Indonesia, India, Laos, Philippians, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam,
Thailand and China (southern Part).
In India it is dispersed Western
Ghats of
Kerala, Tamil Nadu
and Karnataka; Goa; east coastline of Odisha and Andhra
Pradesh; Mangroves of Sundarban; Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
West Bengal (northern parts)
& Andaman Islands. Where, the type locality of the species is reported
Sundarban.
In
spite of its huge geographic range, in 2010 the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species labeled it as vulnerable species. The assessment
was based on the fact that the population of king cobra had dropped by 30 %
from 1935-2010 due to habitat destruction & over harvesting (in some
countries). King
cobras are also listed as an Appendix II animal within CITES.
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| (Source: indiansnakes.org) |
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