This week’s CSRI snake of the week is the Brown forest cobra (Naja subfulva). Forest cobras are the world’s longest true cobras, with some reaching over 3 meters long!
The N. subfulva have only been identified as a distinct species in recent years, as forest cobras are visually very similar. A study of their mitochondrial DNA demonstrated there were in fact 5 distinct forest cobra species, which previously had been classified as N. melanoleuca.
The brown forest cobra is a very alert and intelligent species of snake. For more information, check out this story.