World's Largest Pit Viper – Forest Cobra, High-Definition Photo Gallery
Scientific Name: Naja melanoleuca
Common Name: Forest Cobra
Chinese Formal Name: Forest Cobra
Distribution: Central and Western Africa
The largest species among the true vipers, with maximum size reaching 3.1m
Based on mitochondrial DNA studies, the Forest Cobra is actually composed of the following 5 distinct species, rather than a single Naja melanoleuca
1.Naja guineensis Broadley et al. in Wüster et al. 2018 - Upper Guinea forests of West Africa: Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo
2.Naja melanoleuca Hallowell 1857 - central African forests: Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Angola
3.Naja peroescobari Ceríaco et al. 2017 - São Tomé
4.Naja savannula Broadley et al. in Wüster et al. 2018 - Savanna regions of West Africa: Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon
Forest Cobra vs. King Cobra
