IMG_1534-o (EW) Sunda King Cobra (Ophiophagus bungarus)

Location: Malaysia.

Toxicity: High venomous (fatal).

Now the current split for Peninsular Malaysia is Ophiophagus bungarus, the Sunda king cobra. Previously it was King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)

 

In 2024, a new paper by Das., Shankar., Swamy., Williams., Lalremsanga., Prashanth., Sahoo., Vijayakumar, Höglund., Shanker., Dutta., Ganesh, & Wüster (2024) suggested that King Cobra consists of 4 species.

 

(1) Northern King Cobra (O. hannah),

eastern Pakistan, northern and eastern India, the Andaman Islands, Indo-Burma and Indo-China, south to central Thailand.

 

(2) Sunda king cobra (O. bungarus);

Malay Peninsular, Greater Sunda Islands and parts of the southern Philippines.

 

(3) Western Ghats king cobra (O. kaalinga)- Western Ghats of south-western India and

 

(4) Luzon king cobra (O. salvatana).

island of Luzon in northern Philippines.

 

These distinct genetic lineages are geographically isolated and adapted to specific ecological regions

 

Range: Distributed across Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Singapore, Indonesia.

 

Note: Cooperation with RECS team.

 

Done