Naja kaouthia

Taxobox
name = Monocled Cobra


image_width = 150px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Elapidae
genus = "Naja"
species = "N. kaouthia"
binomial = "Naja kaouthia"
binomial_authority = Lesson, 1831
synonyms = * "Naja kaouthia" - Lesson, 1831
* "Naja tripudians" var. "fasciata" - Gray, 1830
* "Naia tripudians var. fasciata" - Boulenger, 1896
* "Naja naja sputatrix" - Bourret, 1937
* "Naja naja kaouthia" - Smith, 1940
* "Naja kaouthia kaouthia" - Deraniyagala, 1960
* "Naja naja kaouthia" - Harding & Welch, 1980
* "Naja naja kaouthia" - Golay, 1985
* "Naja kaouthia suphanensis" - Nutaphand, 1986
* "Naja kaouthia" - Manthey & Grossman, 1997
* "Naja kaouthia" - Cox "et al.", 1998
* "Naja naja kaouthia" - Sharma, 2004NRDB species|genus=Naja|species=kaouthia|date=15 July|year=2008]

Monocled Cobra "Naja kaouthia" is a species of cobra that has a circular mark behind the hood unlike that of the spectacled Cobra.

Description

Body scales smooth, arranged in 19-21 (usually 21) longitudinal rows at mid-body; throat pale, scarcely any dark mottling, often followed by a single dark band, ventrolateral throat spots distinct; remainder of venter either pale or increasingly cloudy with darker pigmentation towards the rear; in adults, hood markings usually distinct, usually a pale, oval or circular marking, with a dark center and occasionally a narrow dark outer border; occasionally 1 or 2 dark spots are present in the pale oval; fangs not modified for spitting, venom discharge orifice large; ventrals 164-196; subcaudals 43-58. Total length 1500 mm; tail length 230 mm (according to Smith [1943:429] larger specimens have been recorded, but they are rare).

Distribution: Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, NE India, Laos, N. Malaysia, Nepal(?), S. China, Thailand, S Vietnam.

ee also

*
*
* Snakebite

References

Further reading

* Wüster, Wolfgang 1993 A century of confusion: Asiatic cobras revisited Vivarium 4 (4): 14-18
* Cox, Merel J. 1995 Naja kaouthia Herpetological Review 26 (3): 156-157
* Kyi, SAi Wunna & George R. Zug 2003 Unusual foraging behaviour of Naja kaouthia at the Moyingye Wetlands Bird Sanctuary, Myanmar. Hamadryad 27 (2): 265-266
* Wüster,W.; Thorpe,R.S. 1991 Asiatic cobras: Systematics and snakebite. Experientia 47: 205-209
* Wüster,W.; Thorpe,R.S.; Cox,M.J.; Jintakune,P.; Nabhitabhata,J. 1995 Populuation systematics of the snake genus Naja (Reptilia: Serpentes: Elapidae) in Indochina: Multivariate morphometrics and comparative mitochondrial DNA sequencing (cytochrome oxidase I). J. Evol. Biol. 8: 493-510
* Wüster,W. 1996 Taxonomic changes and toxinology: Systematic revisions of the Asiatic cobras (Naja naja complex). Toxicon 34 (4): 399-406
* Wüster, Wolfgang 1998 The cobras of the genus Naja in India Hamadryad 23 (1): 15-32

External links

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* [http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Naja_kaouthia2.jpg]
* [http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Naja_kaouthia4.jpg]
* [http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Naja_kaouthia5.jpg]
* [http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Naja_kaouthia6.jpg]