King Cobra

Fascinating facts about the King Cobra

• At up to 5.85 m (19.2 ft) long, the king cobra, making it the world's longest venomous snake and one of the heaviest. Its average adults measure 3.18-4 m (10.4-13.1 ft), but the record-breaking individual reached 5.85 m, while the largest known specimen captured in Thailand measured 5.59 m (18 ft 4 in).
• Only the king cobra builds a dry-leaf nest above ground, stacking layers up to 55 cm (22 in) high and 140 cm (55 in) wide at the base, then guarding a single chamber of 7-43 eggs for weeks. Females stay by the nest between two and 77 days, while incubation lasts 66-105 days and hatchlings emerge 37.5-58.5 cm long, weighing 9-38 g.
• A single bite can inject up to 420 mg of dry-weight venom (400-600 mg overall), enough to cause rapid neurotoxic and cytotoxic collapse in humans. Laboratory tests show an LD50 of 1.28 mg/kg intravenously in mice, highlighting its potency. The venom's main weapons are three-finger toxins and a high proportion (11.9-24.4 %) of snake-venom metalloproteinases, which together damage nerves and blood vessels, making swift antivenom treatment essential.
• When threatened, the king cobra's hiss drops to a deep growl, resonating below 2,500 Hz with a dominant frequency near 600 Hz, far lower than the 3,000-13,000 Hz range of most snakes. This unique low-frequency sound is amplified by trichial diverticula that act as resonating chambers, letting the cobra project a warning that sounds more like a human voice than a hiss.
• King cobras can live about 20 years in the wild, and females sometimes reproduce without a male through facultative parthenogenesis. The process uses terminal-fusion automixis, where meiotic products from anaphase II fuse, producing viable offspring.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the King Cobra

In the dappled shadows of the forest, the King Cobra reigns supreme, its sinuous body weaving through the underbrush with a mesmerizing elegance, as if the very essence of the jungle has been distilled into this majestic serpent. With eyes that gleam like polished onyx, it navigates its domain with a calculated precision, striking with lightning speed when prey is near, its formidable presence commanding respect from all who cross its path. As it raises its hooded head, a warning signal to potential threats, the King Cobra embodies a potent blend of beauty and menace, a true marvel of evolution.

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