Poisonous Snak«s of ihe World 



iilntioiis or iiulividuiil siiiiktvs is hi^li in iuh -mti/.- 

 inj; fiictor Imt low in luMiroloxin. 



Asian fohras fi'i>il njion iilniosi any kinil ol 

 vi>rti'l)raU< small t'lion;:!! it> l>o swallowi'tl. 'I'licii' 

 foiHlncss fcir rals hflps explain llii'ii' aiiuiulancc 

 ni'ar Imniaii liaMtal ions. Cohras lay ^'tifX^i 1" •" 

 20 In'injj an avi'iaj;i> chilcli. Tlu' rcnialc and oc- 

 t-asionally llit> main icmain with llio eggs and 

 may defenil them. 



A nfii'enhi sources: .Viilivenin aj^ainst venom of 

 Asian (•ol)i-as is ])rodueed by tlie I5('lii-iii<j;\v('rl<c, 

 Marl)iir<;-Lalin, (ieiinany; (\'ntial Ke.searcli Tn- 

 slitnte, Kasauli, India; llatl'kinc Instit\i(e, I'xnu 

 l)ay, India; Tashkent Institute, Moscow (\<ij(i ti. 

 Ill-ill iiii) ; (^iieen Saovaliha Memorial Institute, 

 jianjikok, Thailand; Connnonwealtli Serum Lab- 

 oratories, Vietoria, Australia (Malay Naja) ; Tai- 

 wan Serum Vaccine Laboratory, Tai[K^i {Naja n. 

 afra); State Kazi Institute, Tehran, Iran (Naja 

 n. oxiana) ; Department of Health, Manila, Phil- 

 i|>pines (Naja 7i. p/u7i/>/>//i-('iixis) ; Institut Pas- 

 teur, Handung, Indonesia (Nnja n. xputatrix). 



ELAPIDAE: Genus No;o Laurenti, 1768. 



( "obras. 



Six species are recognized ; all are African except the 

 A.'iiatic cdbra, yajn iiajii. and ranse thr()ii;;li()Ut tlie Afri- 

 can continent except for the drifting sand areas of M:he 

 Sahara rcginn. They are snakes of moderate (4 feet) 

 to larKe IS feet) size, with large fangs and toxic venom. 

 The species, -V. nigricollis, "spits" its venom at the eyes 

 of an aggressor; it is found in the sotithern part of the 

 region of north Africa. The Egyptian cobra {Naja haje) 

 and the western subspecies of the Asiatic cobra {'Naja 

 iiajn nxiaiia) are found in the Xear and Middle East 

 regi(in. The Asi;ific nihrM. \'. iiiijii, is tlie niily species 

 in this region. 



Dc/initiiDi: Head rather broad, flattened, only slightly 

 distinct from neck; snout rounded, a distinct canthus. 

 P.<idy iimderately slender, slightly depressed, tapered; 

 neck ca[)able of expansion into hoiid ; tail of moderate 

 length. 



Eyes moderate in size ; pupils round. 



Head .scales : The usual fl on the crown ; frontal 

 short : rostral rounded. Laterally, nasal in contact with 

 the one or two preoculars. 



Body .scales: Dorsals smooth, in 17-2."> oblicjue rows 

 at midbod.v. usually more on the neck, fewer jmsteriorly. 

 Ventrals l.")0-2.32 : anal iilate entire; subcaudals 42-88, 

 mostl.v iiaired. 



Maxillary teeth : Twi> rather large tubular fangs with 

 external grooves followed, after an interspace, by 0-3 

 small teeth. 



Indian Cobra, Naja. naja naja ( Liiiiiaciis). 



Iitinti/lriitiiin: .\diills lirown or hhick. iinlfnriii or 

 with variegation produced l)y rows of dappled or hi 

 coloredscali'S. There Is a "spcil;ii le" type hood nuirk 

 present, except In l)lack individuals where It Is ap- 

 |>arently ohscnrcd by pignjcni. Helly is liglit ante- 

 riorly becoming clouded posteriorly, or generally dark 

 Willi liglit areas on neck. Young paler and more varle- 

 gati'd. In popMlalloiis where the adidls are uniform 

 lilaek, the young sliow a hood [nark. 



.\verage length 4 to .'i feet, maximum about (J'/i feet. 

 Sexes of about equal size. 



IH.striliiitiiiii: .MosI of the Indian Subcontinent exclu- 

 sive of the extreme northwest and region east of the 

 flanges delta; Ceylon. 



Oxus Cobra, Naja nuja oxiana (Eichwald). 



[iloiti/iidliDii: Adults brown, sometinu's with traces 

 of wide dark cro.ssbands ; hood mark never present; 

 belly i)ale with dark bars on neck. Young tan or buff 

 with regular dark crosst)ands ; no hood mark. The hood 

 in this form is noticeably narrower than in other Asian 

 Naja. 



Length about the same as the Indian cobra. 





J* 





>^' -m^/C'^.'^ 



Figure SO. Oxus Cobra, Naja naja oxiana. This west- 

 ern representative of the Asiatic Cobra occurs in 

 northeastern Iran and in Afghanistan. Photo by Allan 

 Roberts. 



Distribution: Northern frontier of West Pakistan 

 across Afghanistan and into eastern Iran and southern 

 parts of Russian Asia. Avoids desert areas ; occurs in 

 mountains to about 7,-')00 feet. 



Monocellate Cobra, Naja naja kaouthia Lesson. 



Identification: Brown or black usually speckled or 

 variegated with white or pale yellow and often showing 

 alternate wide and narrow transverse dark bands : 

 dorsal hood mark a pale circle edged with black and 



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