''Naja peroescobari'', the São Tomé island forest cobra or Pero Escobar's cobra, is a species of

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

s in the family

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids ; grc, ἔλλοψ ''éllops'' "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydoce ...

. It was previously considered as a African mainland

forest cobra The forest cobra (''Naja melanoleuca''), also commonly called the black cobra and the black and white-lipped cobra, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to Africa, mostly the central and western parts of t ...

(''Naja melanoleuca'') introduced by the Portuguese to limit proliferations by rats. However, it was recently discovered to be a different species, endemic to the island of São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe. The holotype was found near the beach Praia Inhame, southwest of

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

.''Naja peroescobari''
The Reptile Database It was named by Ceríaco et al. after the Portuguese explorer

Pêro Escobar Pedro Escobar, also known as Pêro Escobar, was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator who discovered São Tomé (December 21, 1471), Annobón (January 1, 1472), Príncipe (January 17, 1472) islands, together with João de Santarém c. 1470. He is ...

. ''Naja peroescobari'' is one of the few predators on the island that faces terrestrial mammals such as the black rat (''Rattus rattus'') and the

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender b ...

(''Mustela nivalis'').

References

peroescobari Reptiles described in 2017 Endemic vertebrates of São Tomé and Príncipe Endemic fauna of São Tomé Island {{Elapidae-stub