Banded cobra
| Banded cobra | ||||||||||||
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Banded cobra ( Naja annulifera ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Well annulifera | ||||||||||||
| Peters , 1854 |
The snouted cobra ( Naja annulifera ) is a species of snake from the family of poisonous snakes . It was separated from the uraeus snake ( Naja haje ) as its own species in 1995 and shows a monochrome color morph on the top and a rarer, very conspicuously light and dark banded color morph . The distribution area of the species covers parts of southeastern Africa from southeastern Zambia and central Mozambique to the south to northeastern South Africa .
features
The banded cobra is a large to very large poison snake. The total length of adult individuals is normally 1.2–1.8 m, up to a maximum of 2.5 m. The species is one of the largest cobras in Africa. The animals are strongly built, the head is large and broad. The hood, which is set up behind the head when threatened, is wide and reaches far back.
Scaling
The number of upper lip shields ( supralabials ) is seven, very rarely 6 or 8, those of the lower lip shields ( sublabials ) 8–9, rarely 7 or 10. The number of dorsal rows of scales in the neck area and in the middle of the body is 19, very rarely 17 or 21 The animals have 169–208 abdominal shields ( ventralia ), an undivided anal shield ( scutum anale ) and 48–69 divided tail shields ( subcaudalia ).
coloring
The banded cobra shows two color morphs . Adult animals are either monochrome gray-brown, dark brown or blue-black on top, less often yellowish. In the entire distribution area there is also a rarer, very conspicuously light and dark banded morph, which shows 7 to 11 wide yellow to yellowish-brown transverse bands on a blue-black background. This color morph is more common in males. The belly is very darkly spotted on a yellow background. A not very noticeable reddish-brown throat ligament extends approximately over the abdominal shields 12 to 20.
Young animals have a yellow or greenish-yellow basic color on the upper side. The scales usually have dark edges that can form irregular, oblique dark lines. A wide, black band surrounds the neck. The ventral side is yellow. In young animals of the banded morph, the banding is hardly noticeable at first; in animals with a total length of 600 mm, however, it is already clearly developed.
etymology
The specific epithet of the snake is derived from the diminutive form annul- ( Latin : annulus , "ring") and the verb ferre , which means to carry.
distribution and habitat
The range of the banded cobra covers parts of southeastern Africa. It extends in a north-south direction from southeast Zambia and central Mozambique to the south to northeast South Africa and Swaziland and in an east-west direction from central Botswana to the coast of Mozambique. There it inhabits dry and moist savannahs with little higher vegetation, which in South Africa are called Lowveld or Bushveld .
Systematics
The first description of the species was made in 1854 by the German naturalist Wilhelm Peters as a variant of the uraeus snake ( Naja haje ), which was not recognized by George Boulenger . Donald G. Broadley classified the banded cobra again as a subspecies in 1968 and finally separated it as a separate species from the uraeus snake in 1995. The Naja anchietae , previously considered a subspecies of the banded cobra, was separated as a separate species in 2004 due to morphological and molecular genetic differences.
Lifestyle, Diet and Reproduction
The banded cobra is predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal. The day is spent in hiding places, some of which have been used for years, often in termite burrows . In the morning, the animals like to sunbathe in front of the entrance to their hiding place, where they retreat in the event of disturbances. Banded cobras actively hunt a wide range of vertebrates at night , including rodents , birds and their eggs, toads, lizards, and other snakes, particularly puff adders . The animals love to prey on domestic poultry and are occasionally viewed as pests due to frequent visits to chicken runs.
The species is oviparous , the clutch usually consists of 8 to 33 eggs measuring 47–60 × 25–35 mm. The eggs are laid in early summer. The young snakes are 22 to 34 cm long at birth.
Behavior towards people
The species is not aggressive and, if at all possible, withdraws immediately to the next hiding place in a hole or crevice if disturbed. Driven into a corner, the animals, like many real cobras , adopt a threatening posture by erecting their front bodies up to half a meter high and spreading the hood behind their necks. Occasionally the animals pretend to be dead.
toxicology
Bite accidents mostly happen at night, people are usually bitten in the lower leg. The venom of the banded cobra is predominantly neurotoxic . The initial symptoms often consist of a burning pain at the bite site and swelling, occasionally blisters then form there. The other symptoms after a bite range from numb lips , nausea with vomiting , eyelid paralysis, visual, swallowing and speech disorders to respiratory arrest , which without medical help leads to death.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ In summary: Donald G. Broadley, Wolfgang Wüster: A review of the southern African 'non-spitting' cobras. In: African Journal of Herpetology. Volume 53, No. 2, 2004, p. 101.
- ↑ Donald G. Broadley, Wolfgang Wüster: A review of the southern African 'non-spitting' cobras. In: African Journal of Herpetology. Volume 53, No. 2, 2004, pp. 101-122.
literature
- J. Marais: A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town 2004, ISBN 1-8-6872-932-X , pp. 102-103.
- Donald G. Broadley, Wolfgang Wüster: A review of the southern African 'non-spitting' cobras. In: African Journal of Herpetology. Volume 53, No. 2, 2004, pp. 101-122.
