Cobra
| Cobra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Indian cobra, Naja naja in a defensive posture | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae (with some exceptions) Laurenti, 1768 |
Cobra is the common name of various elapid snakes, most of which belonging to the genus Naja.[1]
Biology
All of the known cobras are venomous and many are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.[2]
Known cobras
All members of the genus Naja, the "true" cobras, rear and produce hoods.
Other "cobra" genera and species are as follows:
- The rinkhals, or ring-necked spitting cobra, Hemachatus haemachatus, so called for its neck band as well as its habit of rearing and spreading its hood when disturbed[3]
- The king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah[4]
- The two species of tree cobra, Goldie's tree cobra and black tree cobra[5]
- The two species of shieldnose cobras, cape coral snake and Aspidelaps scutatus[5]:p.76
- The two species of black desert cobra, desert black snake and Walterinnesia morgani, neither of which rears or produces a hood[5]:p.65
- The so-called American cobra, the Eastern coral snake, which also does not rear or produce a hood[5]:p.30
The false water cobra, Hydrodynastes gigas, is the only "cobra" that is not a member of the Elapidae. It does not rear, produces only a slight flattening of the neck, and is only mildly venomous.[5]:p.53
Notes
- ↑
- ↑ Two non-venomous species of snake, the hognose snake and the striped keelback, also rear and produce hoods but are not considered "cobras"; likewise, some venomous elapid snakes such as the black mamba are also capable of producing hoods but are not called "cobras".
- ↑ Wolfgang Bücherl; Eleanor E. Buckley; Venancio Deulofeu (17 September 2013). Venomous Animals and Their Venoms: Venomous Vertebrates. Elsevier. p. 492. ISBN 978-1-4832-6363-2.
- ↑ United States. Department of the Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (2013). Venomous Snakes of the World: A Manual for Use by U. S. Amphibious Forces. Skyhorse. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-62087-623-7.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Mark O'Shea (20 February 2008). Venomous Snakes of the World. New Holland. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-84773-086-2.
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