Tag elapids

Inland Taipan

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The Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), native to Australia, is the most venomous snake in the world – it is a venomous elapid reptile. It is also known as the Western Taipan, the Small-Scale Snake, or the Fierce Snake. There are two types of Taipans in Australia: Coastal Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) and Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus).

The Inland Taipan is dark-tan to brownish light-green, depending on the season. Its colour becomes darker in winter in order to absorb light and heat from the sun (called thermoregulation). Its underbelly is pale-yellowish. It has dark-marked scales in diagonal rows. It has a rounded head wiith dark eyes. It has venomous fangs.

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Red Spitting Cobra

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The Red Spitting Cobra (Naja pallida), is a medium-sized venomous snake. It is a reptile.

The Red Spitting Cobra is usually bright salmon-red contrasted with a broad black throat band and teardrop markings, but the colour varies. The Kenyan Red Spitting Cobra has an orange-red colour, with a broad, dark blue or black throat band. Most of them have a throat band, but it fades or disappears in larger adults.

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Large Brown Spitting Cobra

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The Large Brown Spitting Cobra (Naja ashei) or Ashe’s Spitting Cobra, is the largest species of spitting cobras, at around 1.2 to 3 metres (4-10 feet) long. It is an elapid – a snake with fangs. It emits double the amount of venom from its fangs than other spitting cobras.

The Large Brown Spitting Cobra is found on the Kenyan coast. It was found in 2007 and regarded as a new species of spitting cobra. Its colour varies in brown shades, from light grey to mustard to dark brown.

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Black-Necked Spitting Cobra

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The Black-Necked Spitting Cobra (Naja nigricollis) is a medium-sized African spitting cobra. It is an elapid – a snake with fangs.

The Black-Necked Spitting Cobra is mainly black, but its colour varies. Some are pale grey with a yellow or reddish ventral side with a broad, black neck band, often with an orange bar on the neck. Others can be yellowish-brown without the bandings around the neck and the reddish colour on the belly, whereas others are deep reddish-brown or olive brown.

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Colubrids

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What are colubrids?

Colubrids are snakes that are mainly harmless and non-venomous, such as grass snakes.

Some venomous colubrid species have grooved fangs in the rear of the upper jaw. (Venomous snakes with fangs at the front of their mouths are called elapids.)

Black Mamba

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The Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is a long thin snake with a distinctive coffin-shaped head.

It is not black. It is olive, brownish, yellow-brown or grey. The inside of its mouth is black.

It grows to approximately 3.2 metres (10.6 feet) long.

It is a very fast moving snake, active during the day (diurnal). It can climb trees, but it mainly moves along the ground.

It is the fastest, longest venomous snake in the world.

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Eastern Green Mamba

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The Eastern Green Mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps) is a large, venomous tree-dwelling (arboreal) snake.

The Eastern Green Mamba is bright green, and is camouflaged in the leaves of trees. It may have a few yellowish scales.

It doesn’t like moving along the ground, so it mainly stays in trees, where it can move quickly.

Its head is narrow, long, and coffin-shaped, with a distinct canthus. A canthus is either the outer or inner corner of the eye where the upper and lower eye-lids meet.

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