Juvenile black mambas tend to be paler than adults and darken with age. Its skin colour varies from grey to dark brown. Specimens of 4.3 to 4.5 m (14 to 15 ft) have been reported. First formally described by Albert Günther in 1864, it is the second-longest venomous snake after the king cobra mature specimens generally exceed 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and commonly grow to 3 m (9.8 ft). It is native to parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The black mamba ( Dendroaspis polylepis) is a species of highly venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae.
