Editing King cobra (section)

== Description ==
[[File:Ophiophagus scalation.png|thumb|Scales of the king cobra]]
[[File:Baby king cobra neck pattern.JPG|thumb|A baby king cobra showing its chevron pattern on the back]]
The king cobra's skin is [[olive green]] with black and white [[Stripe (pattern)|bands]] on the [[Trunk (anatomy)|trunk]] that converge to the head. The head is covered by 15 drab-coloured and black-edged shields ([[Snake scale#Head scales|large scales consistently present between individuals]]). The [[Snout|muzzle]] is rounded, and the tongue black. It has two [[fang]]s and 3–5 [[maxilla]]ry teeth in the upper jaw, and two rows of teeth in the lower jaw. The nostrils are between two shields. The large eyes have a golden iris and round pupils. Its [[Hood (cobra anatomy)|hood]] is oval shaped and covered with olive green smooth [[scale (anatomy)|scales]] and two black spots between the two lowest scales. Its cylindrical tail is yellowish green above and marked with black.<ref name=Cantor1836/>
It has a pair of large [[occipital scales]] on top of the head, 17 to 19 rows of smooth oblique scales on the neck, and 15 rows on the body. Juveniles are black with [[chevron (insignia)|chevron]] shaped white, yellow or buff bars that point towards the head.<ref name=Smith1943>{{cite book |author=Smith, M. A. |year=1943 |title=The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the Indo-Chinese Subregion |volume=((Reptilia and Amphibia. III. – Serpentes)) |location=London |publisher=Taylor and Francis |pages=436–438 |chapter=''Naja hannah''. Hamadryad, King Cobra |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62194/page/n447}}</ref>
Adult king cobras are {{cvt|3.18|to|4|m}} long. The longest known individual measured {{cvt|5.85|m}}.<ref name=mehrtens>{{cite book |last=Mehrtens |first=J. |title=Living Snakes of the World |chapter=King Cobra, Hamadryad (''Ophiophagus hannah'') |year=1987 |publisher=Sterling |location=New York |isbn=0-8069-6461-8 |page=263– |url=https://archive.org/details/livingsnakesofwo00mehr |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=Chanhome2011>{{cite journal |author1=Chanhome, L. |author2=Cox, M. J. |author3=Vasaruchapong, T. |author4=Chaiyabutr, N. |author5=Sitprija, V. |year=2011 |title=Characterization of venomous snakes of Thailand |journal=Asian Biomedicine |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=311–328 |doi=10.5372/1905-7415.0503.043 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |url=https://sciendo.com/pdf/10.5372/1905-7415.0503.043}}</ref> Ventral scales are uniformly oval shaped. Dorsal scales are placed in an oblique arrangement.<ref>{{cite book |author=Martin, D. L. |year=2012 |chapter=Identification of Reptile Skin Products Using Scale Morphology |pages=161–199 |title=Wildlife Forensics: Methods and Applications |editor1-last=J. E. Huffman, J. R. Wallace |location=Oxford |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-119-95429-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EstjD_GgFvQC&pg=PT187 |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210091855/https://books.google.com/books?id=EstjD_GgFvQC&pg=PT187 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The king cobra is [[Sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]], with males being larger and paler in particular during the breeding season. Males captured in [[Kerala]] measured up to {{cvt|3.75|m}} and weighed up to {{cvt|10|kg}}. Females captured had a maximum length of {{cvt|2.75|m}} and a weight of {{cvt|5|kg}}.<ref name=Shankar2013/>
The largest known king cobra was {{cvt|18|ft|4|in|m|order=flip}} long and captured in [[Thailand]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Burton, R. W. |year=1950 |title=The record hamadryad or king cobra [''Naja hannah'' (Cantor)] and lengths and weights of large specimens |journal=The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=49 |pages=561–562 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofbo4919501951bomb/page/561}}</ref>
It differs from other cobra species by size and hood. It is larger, has a narrower and longer stripe on the neck.<ref name=VS>{{cite book |title=Venomous snakes of the world |author=O'Shea, M. |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84773-086-2 |publisher=Bloomsbury  |location=London, Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland}}</ref>