Cobra
This article is about snakes with the common name cobra. For other usages, see Cobra (disambiguation).
| Cobra Temporal range: Miocene-Holocene | |
|---|---|
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| 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
- The king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah
- The two species of tree cobra, Goldie's tree cobra and black tree cobra
- The two species of shieldnose cobras, cape coral snake and Aspidelaps scutatus
- The two species of black desert cobra, desert black snake and Walterinnesia morgani, neither of which rears or produces a hood
- The so-called American cobra, the Eastern coral snake, which also does not rear or produce a hood
The false water cobra, Hydrodynastes gigas, is the only "cobra" which is not a member of the Elapidae. It does not rear, produces only a slight flattening of the neck, and is only mildly venomous.
Notes
- ↑
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cobra". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 613. - ↑ 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".
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