King cobras, which may be four distinct species, are the longest venomous snakes in the world
The imposing king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world’s biggest venomous snake and can measure over five meters long. It inhabits a sizable kingdom across the Asian tropics, stretching from Indonesia to India. However, new research reveals that the king cobra’s massive domain is not ruled by just one species… rather there are four distinct species of king cobra. The four proposed species, which are yet to be officially named, are the Western Ghats lineage in southwestern India, the Indo-Chinese lineage in Indonesia and western China, the Indo-Malayan lineage spanning India and Malaysia and the Luzon Island lineage, found in the Philippines.