Taxonomic revision of the king cobra Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836) species complex (Reptilia: Serpentes: Elapidae), with the description of two new species Author Das, Indraneil 85A2D637-43A8-4422-B42E-A23B81592326 Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. Author Shankar, P. Gowri FD48E857-17FC-4D01-B727-66BE3BBA76FB Maharaja Shrirama Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Baripada, Takatpur, Odisha, India. & Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, Karnataka, India. & Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, SE- 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden. & Kālinga Foundation, Guddakere, Agumbe, Shivamogga 577 411, Karnataka, India. Author Swamy, Priyanka Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, Karnataka, India. Author Williams, Rhiannon C. Molecular Ecology and Evolution at Bangor, School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Environment Centre Wales, Bangor LL 57 2 UW, Wales, UK. Author Lalremsanga, Hmar Tlawmte Developmental Biology & Herpetology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Mizoram University, Aizawl 796 004, Mizoram, India. Author Prashanth, P. Kālinga Foundation, Guddakere, Agumbe, Shivamogga 577 411, Karnataka, India. Author Sahoo, Gunanidhi Department of Zoology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar 751 004, Odisha, India. Author Vijayakumar, S. P. Kālinga Foundation, Guddakere, Agumbe, Shivamogga 577 411, Karnataka, India. Author Höglund, Jacob Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, SE- 751 05 Uppsala, Sweden. Author Shanker, Kartik Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, Karnataka, India. Author Dutta, Sushil K. Department of Zoology, Assam Don Bosco University, Tapesia 782 402, Assam, India. Author Ganesh, S. R. Kālinga Foundation, Guddakere, Agumbe, Shivamogga 577 411, Karnataka, India. Author Wüster, Wolfgang Molecular Ecology and Evolution at Bangor, School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Environment Centre Wales, Bangor LL 57 2 UW, Wales, UK. text European Journal of Taxonomy 2024 2024-10-16 961 1 1 51 https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2681/12413 journal article 10.5852/ejt.2024.961.2681 2118-9773 13944155 8E064900-1289-4648-BE9A-F17461CCF25C Comparisons Early attempts to understand variation in the complex suffered from a variety of shortcomings, due to the variation within ( Figs 11–12 ) and among populations ( Figs 13–16 ) and scarcity of vouchered specimens, especially entire specimens of adults. For instance, all four species recognised here demonstrate dramatic ontogenetic colour and pattern changes, with the banded juveniles losing the pattern in adults consistently in one species ( O. salvatana sp. nov. ) and sometimes in another ( O. bungarus comb. nov. ), retaining it into adulthood in a third population ( O. kaalinga sp. nov. ), and developing dark edges to the band in the fourth ( O. hannah ). Further, the allopatric populations of the four species recognized in this paper do not show categorical differences in the counts of the major scales that have been traditionally employed for taxonomic differentiation of species within snakes. However, a number of characters are useful to unequivocally diagnose the four species recognized here. Character states useful for identification and diagnosis of the members of the complex include dorsal ground colour and pattern, nature of body bands in adults (unbanded and banded, the bands with or without a dark edge) and pterygoid tooth/tooth socket counts. Means, ranges and sample size of characters differentiating the four lineages identified in this study and supported by our mitochondrial phylogeny (see Gowri Shankar et al . 2021: 5 ) are shown in Table 1 . Measurement data are in Table 2 . Furthermore, we provide here a dichotomous identification key for the identification of the species of the genus Ophiophagus recognized here.