King Cobra Snake

Facts about King Cobra snake. "Scientific name for King Cobra snake is Ophiophagus hannah". King Cobra snake is a variety of deadly poisonous snake that belongs to the genus Ophiophagus of the Elapidae family. The King Cobra snakes are native to Southeast Asia, and they are largely found in the forests of Southeast Asia, particularly in India. The King Cobra snake is measured to be a hazardous snake and has a terrifying status in its range, even though it usually shuns conflict with humans. The King Cobra snake is also considered ethnically important and has several superstitions around it. In spite of its common name, the King Cobra snake variety is not an affiliate of the genus Naja, which includes the majority of cobra variety, and it is the only member of its individual genus. The King Cobra snakes are found in tropical and sub-tropical forests all over the world, except in Europe.

Features of List King Cobra snake

The King Cobra is the longest poisonous snake in the world, with a body length ranging from 18 to 19 feet (5.6 to 5.7 meters), with a body mass of 13 pounds (6 kg). Usually, the male snake is bigger and heavier than the females. The King Cobra snake variety preys mostly on other snakes, and it has a couple of proteroglyphous fangs, which is used to inject poison from glands, situated towards the back of its upper jaws. In external look, these snakes have an elongated and slender body with soft scales. The head of the King Cobra snake is covered with big shields and not always different from the neck, and their eyes are equipped with round pupils.

The skin of the King Cobra is either tan, olive-green, or black in color, and it has pale, light yellow cross bands along the length of its body. The stomach of the King Cobra snake is cream or light yellow in color, and its scales are soft. Juvenile snakes have a glossy black color body, with narrow yellow color bands. The head of an adult King Cobra can be quite gigantic and large in appearance, and it can expand the jaws to swallow big prey items. The King Cobra snake has proteroglyph dentition, meaning it has two numbers of small, set fangs in the front part of its mouth, which channel poison into the prey similar to hypodermic needles.

The dorsal scales down the middle part of the body of the King Cobra contain 15 rows. Male cobras have ventral scales ranges from 235 to 250 in numbers, whereas females have ventral scales between 239 and 265. The subcaudal scales in male snakes are solitary or paired in every row, ranging from 83 to 96 in numbers, whereas the female King Cobra snake have subcaudal scales between 77 and 98 in numbers.

Diet of King Cobra snake

The King Cobra variety has extremely generalized diets, but several other varieties have narrow prey favorites and interrelated morphological specializations. Mostly, King Cobra snakes feed on elongate burrowing lizards, creatures, squamate eggs, frogs, birds, fish, and other snakes, including small pythons and rattle snakes.

Behavior of King Cobra snake

Usually, the behavior of King Cobra is fairly active, and they are oviparous. The mass and the length of the King Cobra snakes highly count on their regions and some other features. In spite of their big body size, usually, the King Cobra is fast and alert.

Similar to other snakes, the King Cobra gets chemical information through its forked tongue that picks up the perfume particles and transports them to a particular sensory receptor situated on the top of its mouth, which is similar to the human sense of odor. Like most snakes the King Cobra snake has a "Jacobsen’s Organ" that gives the ability to smell things with a superior sense of smell. A King Cobra snake can sense really small changes in temperature, which lets them track their prey at night. When the smell of a prey is sensed, the cobra flicks its tongue to measure the location of the prey. Usually, a King Cobra is capable of detecting a moving prey at a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) from it. The King Cobra snake are so clever, and have the sensitivity to earth-tolerated tremor to track their prey.

The average lifespan of the King Cobra is 20 years in the wild, whereas in the captive, they can live for a longer period.