Characteristics
Contrary to what its name would suggest, black mambas are actually brownish in color, ranging from olive to greyish tones, with paler bellies. “They are named for the coloration of the inside of their mouths, which is a deep, inky black,” explained Viernum. “Similar to cottonmouths, when threatened a mamba will open its mouth to show the black lining as a warning signal.”
Habitat
Black mambas reside in South and East Africa’s savannas, rocky hills and open woodlands. They like low, open spaces and enjoy sleeping in hollow trees, rock crevices, burrows, or empty termite mounds.
Habits
These speedy serpents can move faster than most people can run, a fact that partly explains why they are so feared. Viernum said, “Black mambas are one of the fastest species of snakes, reaching slithering speed up to 12 mph [19 kph].” This is undoubtedly fast, but still slower than the myths of them outrunning horses would suggest. Over longer distances, they average about 7 mph (11 kph).
They slither quickly in short bursts over level ground, and can zoom along with about one-third of their bodies off the ground and their heads proudly held high. The black mamba racing along with its head nearly 4 feet (1.2 m) in the air is a terrifying and amazing sight. However, according to National Geographic, black mambas use their incredible speed to escape threats, not to hunt.
Black mambas hunt and are active during the day and return to the same place every night to sleep.
Diet
Black mambas typically eat small mammals and birds, though according to Blue Planet Biomes, there have been reports of mambas found with whole parrots or full-grown cobras in their stomachs. In his book Black Mambas (Checkerboard, 2006), Adam G. Klein wrote that black mambas hunt by biting their prey and injecting venom, then releasing it. They then follow it until it becomes paralyzed or dies, at which point they eat it. It doesn’t usually take prey very long to die after being bitten by a black mamba. Black mambas devour their food whole. They have flexible jaws that they can dislocate in order to fit food up to four times the size of their head into their mouth.
Reproduction
Black mambas usually mate during the spring or summer. Males fight for the affections of females. After mating, females lay between 6 to 25 eggs in a damp, warm burrow. The female leaves her eggs and never sees them again. Babies hatch about three months later and are born measuring between 16 and 24 inches.
Taxonomy/classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
- Infrakingdom: Deuterostomia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
- Class: Reptilia
- Order: Squamata
- Suborder: Serpentes
- Infraorder: Alethinophidia
- Family: Elapidae
- Genus: Dendroaspis
- Species: Dendroaspis angusticeps (Eastern green mamba), Dendroaspis jamesoni (Jameson's mamba), Dendroaspis polylepis (black mamba), Dendroaspis viridis
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