cobra
{{About|snakes with the common name cobra|other uses|Cobra (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Copra}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Paraphyletic group
| auto = yes
| subheader = Informal name for various snakes
| fossil_range = Miocene–Holocene
| image = Indiancobra.jpg
| image_caption = Indian cobra (Naja naja)
| image_alt = An Indian cobra (Naja naja) in a defensive posture
| parent = Serpentes
| subdivision = {{bulleted list
|Genus Naja of family Elapidae
|Several species within other genera of Elapidae
|Species Hydrodynastes gigas of family Colubridae
}}}}
Cobra is the common name of various venomous snakes, most of which belong to the genus Naja.{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cobra|volume=6|page=613}}
Many cobras are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.{{efn|Two kinds of non-venomous snake, the hognose snakes and the striped keelback, also rear upwards 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".}}
Other snakes known as "cobras"
While the members of the genus Naja constitute the true cobras, the name cobra is also applied to these other genera and species:
- The rinkhals, ringhals or ring-necked spitting cobra (Hemachatus haemachatus) so-called for its neck band as well as its habit of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened{{cite book|author1=Wolfgang Bücherl|author2=Eleanor E. Buckley|author3=Venancio Deulofeu|title=Venomous Animals and Their Venoms: Venomous Vertebrates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCzLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA492|date=17 September 2013|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-1-4832-6363-2|page=492}}
- The king cobra or hamadryad (Ophiophagus hannah){{cite book|author=United States. Department of the Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery|title=Venomous Snakes of the World: A Manual for Use by U. S. Amphibious Forces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQlECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA217|year=2013|publisher=Skyhorse|isbn=978-1-62087-623-7|page=217}}
- The two species of tree cobras, Goldie's tree cobra (Pseudohaje goldii) and the black tree cobra (Pseudohaje nigra){{cite book|author=Mark O'Shea|title=Venomous Snakes of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bBz1-v1WUwC&pg=PA74|date=20 February 2008|publisher=New Holland|isbn=978-1-84773-086-2|page=74}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- The two species of shield-nosed cobras, the Cape coral snake (Aspidelaps lubricus) and the shield-nosed cobra (Aspidelaps scutatus){{rp|p.76}}
- The two species of black desert cobras or desert black snakes, Walterinnesia aegyptia and Walterinnesia morgani, neither of which rears upwards and produces a hood when threatened{{rp|p.65}}
- The eastern coral snake or American cobra (Micrurus fulvius), which also does not rear upwards and produce a hood when threatened{{rp|p.30}}
The false water cobra (Hydrodynastes gigas) is the only "cobra" species that is not a member of the Elapidae. It does not rear upwards, produces only a slight flattening of the neck when threatened, and is only mildly venomous.{{rp|p.53}}
Notes
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References
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{{Wiktionary}}
{{SIA|snakes}}
{{Animal common name|snakes}}