Cobra

Cobra is the common name of a group of venomous snakes of the Elapidae family, especially the Naja genera, with about twenty species.

They live in tropical and desert areas of southern Asia and Africa. It is easy to recognize them because they display a kind of "hood" in the head area when they are irritated or in danger. They do this by flattening the vertebrae of the head.

In general, they feed on rodents and birds, which they kill by injecting them with a neurotoxin through their fangs. Its predators include the mongoose and some birds of prey.

Cobra classes

The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the longest venomous snake in the world. Their average length is 3.7 m but some reach 5.5 meters. It is a thin snake, olive or brown in color, with bronze-colored eyes. Lives in South and East Asia. Its activity is diurnal and it feeds mainly on other snakes (some of them also poisonous). Its poison is very toxic.

The other Asian cobra is known as the Indian cobra or spectacled cobra (Naja naja), due to a drawing similar to glasses that it displays on its skin. It rarely reaches a length of more than 1.8 meters. The widening of its head area is, proportionally, much greater than that of the king cobra and is usually yellow or brown in color. It develops its activity during twilight and at night, and feeds on reptiles, birds and rodents.

This snake is the cause of many deaths each year in India, where it is treated with religious respect and is rarely killed, although abuses are committed such as removing its teeth and presenting it to people in shows with flutes or trumpets.

The poison

Cobra venom is neurotoxic and has a very strong effect on the nervous system. However, thanks to the greater availability of an effective antidote, the high mortality rate due to its powerful venom has decreased in some areas of Asia.

In addition to biting and injecting their neurotoxic venom, some cobras, such as the spitting cobra, spit out the venom by compressing the muscles in their fangs. These cobras rely more on spitting out the venom than injecting it. They usually aim at the eyes causing temporary, and sometimes permanent, blindness.

Cobra venom is used in medical research because it contains the enzyme "lecithinase" which dissolves cell walls as well as the membranes surrounding viruses.

Mythology

The Egyptian cobra had great importance in Ancient Egypt, where it was used as a symbol of the pharaoh, also representing the goddess Wadjet. While the other snakes represented the serpent Apophis, the cobra represented the Sun. It is said that Cleopatra committed suicide with a cobra bite on her left breast.