Bontrager David Roman, Christie Jack T, Pierce Andrew J, Artchawakom Taksin, Waengsothorn Surachit, Jones Max Dolton
Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University Boise Idaho USA.
Sakaerat Environmental Research Station Nakhon Ratchasima Thailand.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Mar 27;15(4):e71191. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71191. eCollection 2025 Apr.
Ritualistic male-male combat is exhibited by several snake species, and is accepted as a given natural history trait for king cobras. However, there are no detailed accounts of combat behavior in king cobras in the primary literature, despite this understanding and anecdotal reporting (e.g., via social media posts). The recent taxonomic split of the king cobra species complex has increased our overall understanding of king cobras, but has narrowed the applicability of accepted knowledge across the four novel species. Here, we document three direct and indirect observations of ritualistic male-male combat in the newly revised northern king cobra () in Thailand during the 2019 breeding season. We provide detailed accounts of each combat event and the implications that these observations have for our understanding of male-male combat, particularly among king cobra species and the northern king cobra specifically.
几种蛇类都表现出仪式化的雄蛇间争斗行为，这被认为是眼镜王蛇既定的自然史特征。然而，尽管有这种认知和轶事报道（例如通过社交媒体帖子），但在主要文献中却没有关于眼镜王蛇争斗行为的详细描述。眼镜王蛇物种复合体最近的分类学划分增进了我们对眼镜王蛇的整体了解，但却缩小了已接受知识在这四个新物种中的适用性。在此，我们记录了2019年繁殖季节在泰国新修订的北部眼镜王蛇（）中对仪式化雄蛇间争斗的三次直接和间接观察。我们详细描述了每一次争斗事件以及这些观察结果对我们理解雄蛇间争斗的意义，特别是在眼镜王蛇物种之间，尤其是北部眼镜王蛇。
