Cobra

This article is about snakes with the common name cobra. For other uses, see Cobra (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Copra.

Cobra is the common name of various venomous snakes, most of which belong to the genus Naja.^[1]

Cobra Informal name for various snakes Temporal range: Miocene–Holocene
Indian cobra (Naja naja)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Clade:	Ophidia
Suborder:	Serpentes
Subdivisions
Genus Naja of family Elapidae Several species within other genera of Elapidae Species Hydrodynastes gigas of family Colubridae

Many cobras are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.^[a]

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^[2]
• The king cobra or hamadryad (Ophiophagus hannah)^[3]
• The two species of tree cobras, Goldie's tree cobra (Pseudohaje goldii) and the black tree cobra (Pseudohaje nigra)^[4]
• The two species of shield-nosed cobras, the Cape coral snake (Aspidelaps lubricus) and the shield-nosed cobra (Aspidelaps scutatus)^[4]: 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^[4]: p.65
• The eastern coral snake or American cobra (Micrurus fulvius), which also does not rear upwards and produce a hood when threatened^[4]: 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.^[4]: p.53

Notes

1. 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".