Philippine Cobra
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Naja
Species: N. philippinensis
Binomial name
Naja philippinensis
Drop by drop, the Northern Philippine Cobra has the most potent venom of all the species in the genus Naja.
The Northern Philippine Cobra (Naja philippinensis) is a stocky, very toxic snake native to the Philippines. They are found on the Luzon, Mindoro, Catanduanes and Masbate islands. Its average length is 1,70 m. Populations from Mindoro Island are known to be up to 2 Meter in length (Lutz, M., 2006). Its color is light to medium brown while the young cobra's color is a darker brown. They have twenty three to twenty scale rows around the neck and twenty one just above the middle part of the body. They prey upon mice, frogs and small mammals. The female lays eggs in clutches of ten to twenty with an incubation time of sixty to seventy days.
The venom is a neurotoxin which affects cardiac and respiratory function and can cause neurotoxicity and respiratory paralysis and death in thirty minutes. The bite causes only minimal tissue damage. The Philippine cobra is capable of spitting their venom up to three meters.
The Philippine Cobra is called "ulupong" in Tagalog.
Identification
Fairly stockily built. Pattern: adults uniformly light or medium brown, occasionally some lighter variegations; juveniles dark brown, with lighter variegations, sometimes a dark band behind the throat. Scalation: 23-27 (usually 25) scale rows around neck, 21 (rarely 23) just ahead of mid-body; 182-193 ventrals, 36-49 subcaudals, basal pairs sometimes undivided.
Distribution
Philippine Islands: known with certainty from Luzon, Mindoro, Catanduanes and Masbate, likely to occur on other neighbouring islands. Records from the Calamianes group and Palawan.
Cobra species that are found in the Philippines:
The king cobra is the largest venomous snake to be found in the Philippines their size can be around 3 metres in length, it is found in dense jungle areas often near water. Its color can vary greatly.
Generally it is a shy species that will avoid contact with the human but if cornered or its nest is threatened it will become aggressive. The nest will often be made up of dead vegetation, soil and bamboo thickets. It is considered highly dangerous to humans due to it's size and potency of venom.
The Golden Spitting Cobra
Adults are uniformly black except for the head which is normally yellowish, as the name suggests these cobras have the ability to spray their venom as a defense. The venom can blind if not treated quickly.
The Golden Spitting Cobra is found in Palawan and Calamianes Islands.
Range - Philippines (Mindanao, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Camiguin)
Habitat
Philippine Cobra’s habitat - also include open fields, human settlements and dense jungle.
Diet
The snake feeds predominantly on small mammals. Rodents are preferred diet however they do feed on frogs, lizards, small birds and eggs.
Venom
Drop by drop, the Northern Philippine Cobra has the most potent venom of all the species in the genus Naja. The venom is mainly composed of neurotoxins. The postsynaptic neurotoxins interrupt the transmission of nerve signals by binding to the neuro-muscular junctions near the muscles. The symptoms might include headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dizzyness, collapse, convulsions. Particularly in children, collapse and convulsions may be the first evidence of envenoming, at least for certain species. It is often assumed that hypotension will occur in response to envenoming, but hypertension is also common and both tachycardia and bradycardia are reported. Complete respiratory failure leads to victim's death.
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Taipan Jan 13 2012, 03:35 PM Post #2
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Page last updated at 11:03 GMT, Saturday, 17 April 2010 12:03 UK
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The cobra is an example of "evolutionary remodelling"
Scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind the menacing "hood flare" which cobras use as a defensive display.
By measuring the electrical activity from the snakes' muscles, they found the precise group of muscles used by cobras to raise their hoods.
The researchers say that the cobra's hood evolved as its ribs were "co-opted" to be used in this visual display.
They report their findings in the Journal of Experimental Biology
Kenneth Kardong, professor of zoology from Washington State University in the US, was one of the authors of the study.
He explained that the cobra's hood was "an intriguing problem in evolutionary biology".
Snake ribs
"In the cobra, both the [rib bones] and the muscles that work them are deployed to erect this visual display," he explained to BBC News.
"We wanted to examine the way in which the ribs were 'freed up' to rotate into this presentation position, and to understand how the muscles were able to accomplish that and return them to a relaxed position."
To do this, the researchers took measurements of electrical activity from all of the muscles in the cobra's neck.
They had to embark on some very tricky surgery to implant tiny electrodes into the snake's neck muscles, with the animal very carefully anaesthetised.
Bruce Young from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, who also took part in the study, said that doing the surgery was "the riskiest part of the study".
"You have to work around the head but the snakes are prone to waking, which can be disconcerting," he explained.
Once the electrodes were in place, the scientists waited for the snake to recover before filming and recording the muscle activity as the animal flared its neck.
They found that just eight muscles were involved in "hooding" and that they were muscles that were also present in non-hooding snakes.
"This is an example of evolution's remodelling [as] derived species emerge," said Dr Kardong. "There's been a change in the nervous system's control over these muscles."
Professor Young explained that cobras were not the only snakes to hood. "Several groups of unrelated snakes show almost identical defensive behaviour," he said. He now hopes to study how these other snakes raise their hoods.
