HUBBALLI: In ground-breaking research, well-known wildlife biologist P Gowri Shankar from Agumbe has proved that king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) — the longest venomous snake in the world, has four different species. The king cobra has so far been considered as a single species. Gowri Shankar, who is known for his work on king cobra conservation, has led the study that spread across several countries in South and South East Asia and took 10 long years. Gowri Shankar looked at widespread distribution of king cobras and hypothesised that king cobras could have multiple species. Emeritus) and Prof Jacob Hoglund from Uppsala University, Sweden, he collected tissue samples of king cobras in different habitats to establish the different variants.

Source: Indian Express November 04, 2024 12:41 UTC