Adventures in Reptilian Vocabulary

Today we learn the word elapidae — a family of snakes that includes the Egyptian cobra (species Naja haje) that has been missing at the Bronx Zoo since Friday. What makes an elapid elapidated? Fangs that are proteroglyphous, which means they appear at the front of the mouth. They are also hollow and short. A cobra can’t merely bite to deliver its venom, like a rattlesnake (which is solenoglyphous, with long, folding fangs). It must bite and hang on. It compensates for this inefficiency by having more powerful venom.

Does this give you the willies? It’s worth remembering that the missing cobra — a female — is a few months old and only 20 inches long, unlike an adult cobra, which can be 5 feet to 8 feet long. An adult cobra would have no chance of vanishing in the Reptile House, which is closed until the absentee turns up.

But behind the cobra’s official habitat in the Reptile House is another habitat — the complex mechanical systems hidden behind the scenes of many zoos. This is a wilderness of pipes, conduits and ducts — a serpentine, longitudinal paradise where a slim, youthful cobra might feel analogically at home.

The Bronx Zoo has prepared us for a long wait while the search continues, but we hope it ends soon, for the well-being of the cobra itself. And if, perhaps, the thought of a venomous snake gone missing doesn’t already give you the shivers or put you in mind of Sherlock Holmes’s speckled band, we suggest a visit to the Naja haje page at DigiMorph, where you can watch a 3-D CT scan of an Egyptian cobra revolving before your eyes.

That way you’ll know what to look for when you check under the bed tonight.