Neha Patil (Editor)

Cobra

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Reptilia

Suborder
  
Serpentes

Phylum
  
Chordata

Order
  
Squamata

Cobra

Family
  
Elapidae (with some exceptions) Laurenti, 1768

Cobra is the common name of various elapid snakes, most of which belonging to the genus Naja.

Contents

Biology

All of the known cobras are venomous and many are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.

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.

    References

    Cobra Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA