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The black mamba is a long, slender, cylindrical snake. It has a coffin-shaped head with a somewhat pronounced brow ridge and a medium-sized eye. The adult snake's length typically ranges from 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) but specimens have grown to lengths of 4.3 to 4.5 m (14 ft 1 in to 14 ft 9 in). It is the second-longest venomous snake species, exceeded in length only by the king cobra. The black mamba is a proteroglyphous (front-fanged) snake, with fangs up to 6.5 mm (0.26 in) in length, located at the front of the maxilla. The tail of the species is long and thin, the caudal vertebrae making up 17–25% of its body length. The body mass of black mambas has been reported to be about 1.6 kg (3.5 lb), although a study of seven black mambas found an average weight of 1.03 kg (2.3 lb), ranging from 520 g (1.15 lb) for a specimen of 1.01 m (3 ft 4 in) total length to 2.4 kg (5.3 lb) for a specimen of 2.57 m (8 ft 5 in) total length. Specimens vary considerably in colour, including olive, yellowish-brown, khaki and gunmetal but are rarely black. The scales of some individuals may have a purplish sheen. Individuals occasionally display dark mottling towards the posterior, which may appear in the form of diagonal crossbands. Black mambas have greyish-white underbellies and the inside of the mouth is dark bluish-grey to nearly black. Ma...Learn more about Black Mamba
View related species in family group: Snake
Animalia: Chordata: Squamata: Reptilia: Elapidae: Dendroaspis polylepis