Monocled cobra: Difference between revisions
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==Description== | ==Description== | ||
The monocled cobra is medium to large in length, heavy bodied snake with long cervical ribs capable of expansion to form a hood when threatened. The body of this species is compressed dorsoventrally and sub-cylindrical posteriorly. Its head is elliptical, depressed, slightly distinct from the neck with a short, rounded snout and large nostrils. The eyes are medium in size with round pupils. Dorsal scales are smooth and strongly oblique. Most adults average between {{convert|1.1|m|ft}} and {{convert|1.5|m|ft}} in length but they can grow to a maximum length of {{convert|2.3|m|ft}}. The colour pattern on the monocled cobra is highly variable. | |||
Revision as of 21:56, 15 June 2012
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The Monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia), also commonly referred to as the Monocellate cobra is a species of venomous cobra that belongs to the family Elapidae. It is a medium sized snake that is very common throughout Southeast Asia and the eastern regions of South Asia. This species causes more human fatalities than any other snake in Thailand.
Etymology and taxonomic history
The Monocled cobra was first described by French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist and herpetologist René Primevère Lesson in 1831.[3] The generic name Naja is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word nāgá (नाग) meaning "cobra". The specific epithet kaouthia is derived from the Bengali term "keauthia" which means "monocle".
Since it was first described by Lesson in 1831 several monocled cobras were described under different scientific names:
- In 1834, John Edward Gray published Thomas Hardwicke’s first illustration of a monocled cobra under the trinomial Naja tripudians var. fasciata.[4]
- In 1839, Thomas Cantor described a brownish monocled cobra with numerous faint yellow transverse stripes and a hood marked with a white ring under the binomial Naja larvata, found in Bombay, Calcutta and Assam.[5]
Several varieties of monocled cobras were described under the binomial Naja tripudians between 1895 and 1913.
- Naja tripudians var. scopinucha 1895
- Naja tripudians var. unicolor 1876
- Naja tripudians var. viridis 1913
- Naja tripudians var. sagittifera 1913
In 1940, Malcolm Arthur Smith classified the monocled cobra as a subspecies of the Indian cobra under the trinomial Naja naja kaouthia.[6]
- Naja kaouthia kaouthia – Deraniyagala, 1960
Description
The monocled cobra is medium to large in length, heavy bodied snake with long cervical ribs capable of expansion to form a hood when threatened. The body of this species is compressed dorsoventrally and sub-cylindrical posteriorly. Its head is elliptical, depressed, slightly distinct from the neck with a short, rounded snout and large nostrils. The eyes are medium in size with round pupils. Dorsal scales are smooth and strongly oblique. Most adults average between 1.1 m (3.61 ft) and 1.5 m (4.92 ft) in length but they can grow to a maximum length of 2.3 m (7.55 ft). The colour pattern on the monocled cobra is highly variable.
Cited references
- ↑ Naja kaouthia (TSN 700628) at Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed 15 June 2012.
- ↑ Naja kaouthia LESSON, 1831 at The Reptile Database. Accessed 15 June 2012.
- ↑ Lesson, R.P. 1831. Catalogue des Reptiles qui font partie d'une Collection zoologique recueille dans l'Inde continentale ou en Afrique, et apportée en France par M. Lamare-Piquot. Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles et de Géologie, Paris. 25 (2): 119-123
- ↑ Gray, J. E. (ed.) (1834) Cobra Capella. Illustrations of Indian zoology chiefly selected from the collection of Maj.-Gen. Hardwicke. Vol. II: Plate 78.
- ↑ Cantor, T. (1839) Naja larvata. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Vol. VII: 32–33.
- ↑ Smith, M. A. (1940) Naja naja kaouthia. Records of the Indian Museum. Volume XLII: 485.