Cobra is the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

of various

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s, most of which belong to the genus '' Naja''.

Biology

All of the known cobras are venomous and many are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.Two kinds of non-venomous snake, the

hognose snake Hognose snake is a common name for several unrelated species of snake with upturned snouts, classified in 2 colubrid snake genera and 1 pseudoxyrhophiid snake genus. They include the following genera: *''Heterodon'', which occur mainly in ...

s and the

striped keelback The striped keelback (''Xenochrophis vittatus'') is a species of colubrid snake native to Indonesia. It has also been introduced to Singapore and Puerto Rico. Description The striped keelback is a medium sized snake, with females growing to ab ...

, also rear upwards and produce hoods but are not considered "cobras"; likewise, some venomous elapid snakes, such as the

black mamba The black mamba (''Dendroaspis polylepis'') is a species of highly venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. It is native to parts of sub-Saharan Africa. First formally described by Albert Günther in 1864, it is the second-longest ...

, 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 The rinkhals (; ''Hemachatus haemachatus''), also known as the ringhals or ring-necked spitting cobra, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is found in parts of southern Africa. It is not a true cobra in that it do ...

, 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 * The king cobra or hamadryad (''Ophiophagus hannah'') * The two species of tree cobras, Goldie's tree cobra ('' Pseudohaje goldii'') and the black tree cobra (''

Pseudohaje nigra The black tree cobra (''Pseudohaje nigra'') is a species of venomous tree cobra found in central and western Africa. This species is one of the two tree cobras in Africa, the other being Goldie's tree cobra (''Pseudohaje goldii''). Distribution ...

'') * The two species of shield-nosed cobras, the Cape coral snake (''

Aspidelaps lubricus ''Aspidelaps lubricus'', commonly known as the Cape coral snake or the Cape coral cobra, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to southern Africa. Geographic range and habitat ''A. lubricus'' is found in r ...

'') and the

shield-nosed cobra The shield-nosed cobra (''Aspidelaps scutatus'') is a venomous snake in the family Elapidae. It is found in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country ...

(''Aspidelaps scutatus'') * 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 * The eastern coral snake or American cobra ('' Micrurus fulvius''), which also does not rear upwards and produce a hood when threatened The false water cobra (''

Hydrodynastes gigas ''Hydrodynastes gigas'' is a New World species of large, rear-fanged, Dipsadidae snake endemic to South America. It is commonly and alternatively known as the false water cobra and the Brazilian smooth snake.Warrell DA (2004). "Snakebites in C ...

'') 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.

References

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