The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is a venomous snake endemic to Asia. With an average length of and a maximum record of , it is the world's longest venomous snake. Colouration of this species varies across habitats, from black with white stripes to unbroken brownish grey. The sole member of the genus Ophiophagus, it is not taxonomically a true cobra, despite its common name and some resemblance. The king cobra inhabits forests from South to Southeastern Asia where it preys chiefly on other snakes, including those of its kind. A female king cobra builds a nest to hold its eggs which will be protected throughout the incubation period.
The threat display of this elapid includes spreading its neck-flap, raising its head upright, making eye contact, puffing, hissing and occasionally charging. Despite its fearsome reputation, altercations usually only arise from an individual inadvertently exposing itself or being chased. However, if provoked or cornered, it is capable of striking long in range and high in position. Bites from this species are medically significant which may result in a rapid fatality unless antivenom is administrated in time.
Threatened by habitat destruction, it has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2010. Regarded as the national reptile of India, it has an eminent position in the mythology and folk traditions of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
The king cobra is also referred to by the common name "hamadryad", especially in older literature. Hamadryas hannah was the scientific name used by Danish naturalist Theodore Edward Cantor in 1836 who described four king cobra specimens, three captured in the Sundarbans and one in the vicinity of Kolkata.
Naja bungarus was proposed by Hermann Schlegel in 1837 who described a king cobra zoological specimen from Java.
In 1838, Cantor proposed the name Hamadryas ophiophagus for the king cobra and explained that it has dental features intermediate between the genera Naja and Bungarus.
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The Bengal tiger is a population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late Pleistocene, for about 12,000 to 16,500 years. Today, it is threatened by poaching, loss and fragmentation of habitat, and was estimated at comprising fewer than 2,500 wild individuals by 2011.
The Indian cobra (Naja naja), also known commonly as the spectacled cobra, Asian cobra, or binocellate cobra, is a species of cobra, a venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent, and is a member of the "big four" species that are responsible for the most snakebite cases in India. It is distinct from the king cobra which belongs to the monotypic genus Ophiophagus. The Indian cobra is revered in Hindu mythology and culture, and is often seen with snake charmers.
Bungarus is a genus of venomous elapid snakes, the kraits ("krait" is pronounced kraɪt, rhyming with "kite"), found in South and Southeast Asia. The genus Bungarus has 16 species. Kraits are found in tropical and subtropical South and Southeast Asia and Indochina, ranging in the west from Iran, east through the Indian subcontinent (including Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, & Sri Lanka) and into Southeast Asia (including the island of Borneo, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam).
Snakes are limbless predators, and many species use venom to help overpower relatively large, agile prey. Snake venoms are complex protein mixtures encoded by several multilocus gene families that function synergistically to cause incapacitation. To examin ...