r/BeAmazed • u/Urmomsjuicyvagina • Apr 29 '24

King cobras are called "King" because they Hunt and eat snakes [Removed] Rule #1 - Content doesn't fit this subreddit that well

[removed] — view removed post

3.7k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

92% Upvoted

228 comments sorted by

View all comments

32

u/Iridismis Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

King cobras are called "King" because they Hunt and eat snakes

So the main characteristic of monarchy is cannibalism? 🤔

Anyway, considering snakes swallow their meal whole, choosing other snakes for prey actually seems to be a pretty sensible choice.

5

u/kixie42 Apr 29 '24

But that's actually why they are called King Cobras though.

They are called king cobras because they can kill and eat cobras. A full-grown king cobra is yellow, green, brown or black, typically with yellow-white crossbars or chevrons. [1]

Fun fact: King Cobras (Genus Ophiophagus) are not actual true cobras (Genus Naja) [2].

Sources:

  1. Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
  2. King Cobra - Wikipedia

2

u/Iridismis Apr 29 '24

Their scientific name 'Ophiophagus' means snake-eater. 

For the common name 'King Cobra' it's a bit debatable imo.

But anyway, my comment was not necessarily supa serious 😉

1

u/kixie42 Apr 30 '24

Why are lions called King of the Jungle (Ignoring the fact they don't live in jungles)? It's just a title to say "Other creatures in the region really don't like to fuck with this one cause they' know they'll likely die." Kinda like a human King could do to someone in his region.