The mighty king cobra – the world’s longest venomous snake – is actually four different species, scientists have confirmed in a new study.
For 188 years, the king cobra has been represented by a single species, Ophiophage hannah. But this widely distributed species shows large differences in body color and other physical characteristics in different regions, prompting scientists to question whether it is a single species.
In a study published in 2021scientists confirmed genetic differences between king cobra populations. Based on this research, scientists have now compared the physical differences in museum specimens and identified four distinct species: the northern king cobra (O. hannah), the Sunda king cobra (Bungarus ophiophagus), the king cobra of the Western Ghats (Ophiophagus kaalinga) and the king cobra of Luzon (Ophiophagus salvatana). The findings were published on October 16 in European Journal of Taxonomy.
“I feel like we made history,” the study’s author Gowri Shankar Pogirifounder of the Kalinga Foundation and director of the Kalinga Center for Rainforest Ecology, Mongabay said.
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King cobras live in humid environments, including open forests and dense mangrove swamps, from northern India to southern China and throughout Southeast Asia. In these regions, their appearance varies in body color, pattern and size.
In the 2021 study, an analysis of DNA that accounted for nearly the entire distribution range of king cobras was identified four distinct genetic lines. These lineages were classified as confirmed candidate species—species yet to be formally described and named.
Building on this research, the new study looked at physical differences between 153 museum specimens. An analysis of the specimens’ body morphology—including their color patterns, body width, and dental characteristics—led the researchers to identify four species that correspond to the genetic lineages found in the 2021 study.
Northern king cobra (O. hannah) is widespread throughout the sub-Himalayas, eastern India, Myanmar and Indochina, and extends south to the narrowest part of the Thai peninsula at the Kra Isthmus. Adults have dark-edged yellow bands and between 18 and 21 teeth.
Sunda king cobra (O. bungarus) lives in the Malay Peninsula and the Greater Sunda Islands—including Sumatra, Borneo, and Java—as well as Mindoro in the Philippines. Large individuals of this species are usually unbanded or have narrow, pale bands with dark edges along the body.
The king cobra of the Western Ghats (O. kaalinga) is restricted to the Western Ghats of the Indian Peninsula. This species differs from O. bungarus in that there are no dark edges around the pale bands along its body.
HOW O. kaalingaking cobra of Luzon (O. salvatana) resides in Luzon, an island in the northern Philippines. It has extremely angular pale body bands compared to the bands of the other three species.
All these species are poisonous. King cobras are among the most poisonous snakes in the world and release a large dose of venom in a single bite that can kill a human in just 15 minutes. The new study shares that this could be the first step in the development of improved antivenom from Ophiophagus bites in their respective regions.
Pogiri believes there may be more unknown king cobra species yet to be discovered on small islands that were not part of this research. “Their study is already underway,” he said.