Indian Cobra
Encyclopedia : I : IN : IND : Indian Cobra
The Indian Cobra or Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja) is a species of venomous snake native to the Indian subcontinent. The Indian cobra, like all other cobras, is famous for its threat display, which involves raising the front part of its body and spreading its hood. On the rear of its head displayed on the hood are two circular patterns connected by a single line, creating an image of what looks like a pair of spectacles, hence the common name Spectacled Cobra. Adult Indian Cobras can grow to be about 6 feet in length (2 meters).
Indian Cobras are oviparous and lay their eggs between the months of April and July. The females can lay anywhere between 12-30 eggs in a underground nest, which will hatch anywhere from 48-69 days later. Newborn Spectacled Cobras can measure between 8-12 inches (20-30 cm). Newly hatched cobras have actively functioning venom glands from the moment they emerge from the egg.
Venom
The Indian Cobra has powerfully neurotoxic venom, which is known to contain post-synaptic neurotoxins. The venom acts on the synaptic gaps of the nerves, thereby paralyzing muscles, and possibly leading respiratory failure or cardiac arrest.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.