The black mamba snake had a high mortality rate in some parts of Africa in its early days, so it was named as the "African Death". Coupled with its fast moving speed, it has long been called "the most dangerous poisonous snake in the world".
General situation of black mamba snake
Black mamba belongs to mamba genus of Cobra family, including East mamba, Jane mamba, West mamba and Black mamba. Its members are all distributed in Africa and are arboreal. They are all poisonous snakes without exception.
1864, the famous zoologist Albert Ganser officially named the black mamba snake, and the word "black" in the black mamba was used to describe the rare black color in Shekou.
Black has always represented mystery, darkness and fear, and the rare Darkmouth of Black Mamba has endowed it with mysterious legends.
Jane mamba
Rumor1-"The black mamba is 6 meters long and is the longest poisonous snake"?
The shape of the black mamba has been hyped up. Many people say that the record of the black mamba is 6 meters, which is the longest among poisonous snakes.
However, in the actual records, the actual record of the longest wild individual of the black mamba was 1956, and a black mamba with a length of 4.3 meters was recorded on the southern coast of Natal, South Africa.
Screenshot of the largest single document actually measured in Heimamba.
So, how did the saying that the black mamba is 6 meters long come from?
In fact, it is nothing more than some bragging dictation, such as "I once saw a 6-meter-long black mamba", "My grandfather once saw a 6-meter-long black mamba" and "others said there was a 6-meter-long black mamba" and so on.
In fact, the black mamba is the second longest of all poisonous snakes, second only to the king cobra. The common body length of the black mamba is more than 2 meters, and those above 3 meters are rare, even less than 4 meters. There are much more records of king cobras with a height of 3 meters and more than 4 meters.
Therefore, "the black mamba is 6 meters long and is the longest poisonous snake" is totally hype.
King cobra (left) and black mamba (right)
Proverb 2-"The black mamba runs faster than the horse"
When I heard this rumor, there was no fluctuation in my heart, and I even wanted to laugh. You say the black mamba is the fastest snake, but you say it runs faster than a horse, which is too much. No matter how fast the black mamba is, it is also a reptile without long legs. No matter how slow a horse runs, it still runs on four legs.
1906 On April 23rd, a Heimamaba 1 1 km, which was deliberately angered by people, moved more than 40 meters per hour. The fastest record of the black mamba is moving 50 meters at a speed of 16 km per hour.
Some people may not know. Let's just say that the moving speed of 1 hour 16 kilometers is equivalent to 1 second running 4.43 meters, so it takes 1 1.3 seconds to run 50 meters. I believe even fat people can achieve this speed?
Then, although a black mamba can run people, how can it run faster than a horse? Snakes, like most reptiles, can only move explosively in a short distance at most, which can't last long, let alone endurance.
Myth 3-"The black mamba is the most poisonous snake in the world, and the mortality rate after being bitten is 100%".
The toxicity of black mamba is often boasted, and some people even directly say that it is the most poisonous snake in the world. It is also said that the death rate of people bitten by black mamba is 100%, which is very exaggerated.
First of all, we should know that at present, the mortality rate of no snake is 100%, because every poisonous snake will have a situation of "dry biting without injecting poison". Because venom is also important to poisonous snakes, they don't inject venom every time they attack.
Even in the era without antivenom, the fatality rate of snakebite is above 30%. Moreover, after being bitten by a poisonous snake, as long as the amount of poison injected is not large, it can be treated and treated in time, and it is generally not fatal.
And those who boast about which poisonous snake killed 100% are groundless and alarmist, because this 100% fatal situation will only happen if you give up seeking medical treatment after being bitten by a poisonous snake.
After talking about the mortality rate of black mamba bragging, let's take a look at the toxicity of black mamba.
Usually, when comparing the toxicity of snakes,-LD50 is used as the basis for comparing the toxicity. Generally, it is also compared with the average value in a group of experiments, because the toxicity of some poisonous snakes fluctuates greatly. The subjects of experiments are usually mice.
In addition, the injection conditions of LD50 must also be carried out in the same injection mode. Subcutaneous injection is usually used, because subcutaneous injection is more in line with our situation of being bitten by poisonous snakes.
Simply put, two kinds of snake venom killed half a group of the same number of experimental mice, which snake used a smaller dose of venom, which proved to be more toxic.
Therefore, the lower the LD50 value, the stronger the toxicity level.
ill will
In the toxicity test of black mamba, its toxicity is very unstable. The subcutaneous LD50 value can reach 0.25mg/kg when it is good, and it is outside 0.7mg/kg when it is bad. On average, the toxicity level is about 0.5 mg/kg.
The toxicity level of black mamba does not need to be compared with the poisonous snakes in the world, or even the 0.09mg/kg of bungarus multicinctus in China. In the face of the toxicity level of poisonous snakes in the world, it is even difficult to enter the top 20.
Therefore, the rumor that "the black mamba is the most poisonous snake in the world, and the death rate after being bitten is 100%" is also nonsense.
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To sum up, the black mamba snake is not as fantastic as rumored. It doesn't have an exaggerated figure of 6 meters long, and its toxicity is not the first among snakes. After being bitten by it, it is far from 100% fatal. It can't run as fast as a horse. Therefore, the black mamba snake is terrible, but it is far less exaggerated and outrageous than the online boasting. The black mamba snake doesn't want to be the "hype snake" that people brag about. Like other poisonous snakes, it does not take the initiative to provoke humans. It just evolved venom, which can help it resist the enemy and survive better.