A species
King cobra
Ophiophagus hannah
The longest venomous snake, and a nest-guarding parent.
You and the king cobra last shared an ancestor about 320 million years ago (on 4 December, if life's history were one year).
The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake. Most adults are about 3 to 3.6 metres long, and very large ones can reach about 5.4 metres, roughly as long as a minivan. It eats mostly other snakes, even venomous ones, and sometimes takes lizards.
It belongs with lizards and snakes, so the panther chameleon shown beside it on the tree is a distant cousin. That may seem surprising, but here is another twist: despite its name and hood, it is not a true cobra and sits in a group of its own.
The female scrapes leaves and branches into a mound nest and lays about 21 to 40 leathery eggs inside, kept warm in part by heat from rotting plants. She stays coiled on the nest to guard them until they hatch, while the male stays close by.
Daytime hunter with sharp eyes
Its eyesight is better than most snakes', good enough to spot a moving person about 100 metres away, and it hunts mainly by day.
A growling hiss
Its hiss is unusually low, more like a dog's growl, and can be heard from a distance.
Wrestling males
Males fight by ritual wrestling, with the winner pushing the loser's head to the ground.