XIII. Remarks on the voluntary expansion of the skin of the neck, in the cobra de capello or booded snake of the East Indies. By Patrick Russell, M. D. F. R. S. with a description of the structure of the parts which perform that office. By Everard Home, Esq. F. R. S

Abstract

The remarkable expansion of the skin of the neck, in the Coluber Naja of Linnæus, or Cobra de Capello of the East Indies, and which constitutes a principal character of the species, is produced by an apparatus hitherto, as I believe, very imperfectly described. It is a voluntary action, totally distinct from that inflation which all serpents, when irritated, are more or less capable of, and which the Coluber Naja also assumes, at the same time that it expands its hood. In botanical excursions in India, fragments of serpentine skeletons, made by the black ants, were occasionally met with; but, in such as were supposed to belong to the Coluber Naja, the peculiar disposition and structure of the cervical ribs, so different from that in other serpents, had escaped me.

How the Cobra Got Its Flesh-Eating Venom: Cytotoxicity as a Defensive Innovation and Its Co-Evolution with Hooding, Aposematic Marking, and Spitting

“…However, some lineages ( Naja and closely related genera) have evolved defensive behaviour characterised by the extension of “hoods”, formed when elongate ribs in the neck are spread, which often reveal bright colours and intricate patterns [12]. This morphological and behavioural adaptation also calls for a “plan B”—a defensive strategy in case the display fails [13,14]. Typically, plan B involves painful defensive bites, but the ability to spit venom is believed, on the basis of variations in morphology and associated behaviour, to have evolved three times independently within the Naja + Hemachatus clade [13,15].…”

“…Despite the iconic nature of the species involved, the connection between the hooding and spitting behaviours and the cytotoxicity of the venoms has not been previously investigated. Indeed, hooding behaviour has puzzled scientists for more than 200 years [14,24]. Thus, this project aimed to test the relationship between these three character states with a view to understanding how this suite of defensive adaptations has coevolved.…”