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Chicago's Field Museum snake collection helps determine king cobras were likely 4 separate species all along

Field Museum snake collection used for fascinating discovery
Field Museum snake collection used for fascinating discovery 02:21

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Wednesday marked the Lunar New Year and the beginning of the year of the snake, and the Field Museum of Natural History figured it made for a fitting time to talk about snakes.

But while talking about snakes in general with Field Museum scientists would surely be fascinating unto itself, in this case, the subject is a huge discovery about king cobras.

The Field Museum has a massive collection of snake specimens, but you will not find them with Máximo the Titanosaur and Akeley's elephants in Stanley Field Hall — or in any of the exhibits to the left, right, or above. You also will not find the snake specimens on the level below, where the Underground Adventure and Bushman can be found and the McDonald's used to be.

The snake specimens are, in fact, two levels underground at the Field Museum in a research area not open to the public — and there are tens of thousands of them.

Some of the specimens were collected as far back as the 19th century.

"These last forever if they're properly preserved and properly cared for," said Sara Dr. Ruane, associate curator of reptiles and amphibians and herpetologist for the Field Museum.

There are 37 king cobras in the Field Museum's collection. The king cobra is largest venomous snake in the world.

Recently, the experts on king cobras learned something new — just in time for the year of the snake.

"We've been calling king cobras one species for almost 200 years, and we've probably been wrong this whole time," said Ruane.

Researchers used the Field Museum's snake collection to help discover that what they thought was one species making up king cobras is actually four. They noticed differences in bands — one specimen had very narrow bands, the other very wide bands — as well as differences in the number of teeth.

Now that four species are known, conservation efforts might change.

"It basically means that we need to reevaluate these four species to determine, what are their actual extinction risks?" said Field Museum research associate Stephen Mahony.

The findings might also lead to more effective anti-venom treatments, though Ruane emphasized that king cobras are not really the threat they are made out to be.

"Less than five people die from king cobra bites a year, so they're not out to get anybody," she said.

New research also means the Field Museum will have to relabel and rearrange jars of snakes. It is an exciting update to a king-sized collection.

The Field Museum believes it has three of the four species of king cobras in its collection. In all, the Field Museum's collection of amphibians and reptiles is one of the six largest herpetological collections in the U.S., with over 300,000 specimens.

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