Sunday, August 29, 2010

Animal Knowledge Information Version 4 ( Earth series) :King Cobra

Warning : Some children may feel afraid or discomfort looking @ the real picture.


Ingame details :
Number :062
Strength/Health : 6500/7000
Best P:Unchained Power , SPEED type
Effects : Curse : Lowers enemy’s defense


Real details :
Scientific Name : Ophiophagus hannah
Length : 4 meters
Weight : 6 kilogram
Continent : Asia/India


The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world’s longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft). This species is widespread throughout Southeast Asia and parts of India, and is found mostly in forested areas. The king cobra is fierce, agile, and can deliver a large quantity of highly potent venom in a single bite. It is one of the most dangerous and feared Asiatic snakes.


King cobras, like other snakes, receive chemical information (“smell”) via their forked tongues, which pick up scent particles and transfer them to a special sensory receptor (Jacobson’s organ) located in the roof of its mouth. When the scent of a meal is detected, the snake flicks its tongue to gauge the prey’s location (the twin forks of the tongue acting in stereo); it also uses its keen eyesight (king cobras are able to detect moving prey almost 100 m [300 feet] away), intelligence and sensitivity to earth-borne vibration to track its prey.Following envenomation, the king cobra will begin to swallow its struggling prey while its toxins begin the digestion of its victim. King cobras, like all snakes, have flexible jaws. The jaw bones are connected by pliable ligaments, enabling the lower jaw bones to move independently. Like all snakes, the king cobra swallows its prey whole. The expansion of the jaw enables the snake to swallow prey much larger than its head.


King cobras are able to hunt at all times of day, although it is rarely seen at night, leading most herpetologists to classify it as a diurnal species.



The king cobra is a fierce and highly aggressive snake. When threatened, it raises up the anterior portion of its body, flattening the neck, showing the fangs and hissing loudly. It is easily irritated by closely approaching objects or sudden movements. The king cobra attacks quickly, and the strike distance is about 7 feet; people can easily misjudge the safe distance. The king cobra may deliver multiple bites in a single attack, or bite and hold on. Although it is undoubtedly a very dangerous snake, it prefers to escape unless it is cornered or provoked.


If a king cobra encounters a natural predator, such as the mongoose, which has some resistance to the neurotoxins, the snake generally tries to flee. If unable to do so, it forms the distinctive cobra hood and emits a hiss, sometimes with feigned closed-mouth strikes. These efforts usually prove to be very effective, especially since it is more dangerous than other mongoose prey, as well as being much too large for the small mammal to kill with ease.


Bioacoustic analysis of the “growl” of the king cobra has shown that it differs significantly from other snakes. Generally a typical snake hiss has a broad-frequency span (~3,000 to 13,000 Hz) with a dominant frequency near 7,500 Hz whereas the “growl” of the king cobra consists of frequencies below 2,500 Hz, with a dominant frequency near 600 Hz.


King cobra’s genus name, Ophiophagus, literally means “snake-eater”, and its diet consists primarily of other snakes, including rat snakes, sizeable pythons and even other venomous snakes (including kraits, cobras and smaller members of its own species).When food is scarce, they may also feed on other small vertebrates, such as lizards, birds, and rodents. In some cases, the cobra may “constrict” its prey, like birds and larger rodents, using its muscular body, though this is uncommon. After a large meal, the snake may live for many months without another one because of its slow metabolic rate.The king cobra’s most common meal is the ratsnake; this leads them near human settlements.


The venom of the King Cobra is primarily neurotoxic, but also contains cardiotoxic compounds. It is composed mostly of proteins and polypeptides. During a bite, venom is forced through the snake’s half-inch (1.25 cm) fangs and into the wound, and quickly attacks the victim’s central nervous system, and induces severe pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis. Envenomation progresses to cardiovascular collapse, and the victim falls into a coma. Death soon follows due to respiratory failure.

Contributed by : ReiGSH
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_cobra

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