Naja

This article is about a genus of venomous snakes. For other uses, see Naja (disambiguation).

Naja
Temporal range: Miocene–Holocene
Indian cobra (Naja naja), species typica of the genus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Naja
Laurenti, 1768
Type species
Coluber naja
Linnaeus, 1758

Naja is a genus of venomous elapid snakes commonly known as cobras (or "true cobras"). Members of the genus Naja are the most widespread and the most widely recognized as "true" cobras. Various species occur in regions throughout Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Several other elapid species are also called "cobras", such as the king cobra and the rinkhals, but neither is a true cobra, in that they do not belong to the genus Naja, but instead each belong to monotypic genera Hemachatus (the rinkhals)[1] and Ophiophagus (the king cobra/hamadryad).[2][3]

Until recently, the genus Naja had 20 to 22 species, but it has undergone several taxonomic revisions in recent years, so sources vary greatly.[4][5] Wide support exists, though, for a 2009 revision[6] that synonymised the genera Boulengerina and Paranaja with Naja. According to that revision, the genus Naja now includes 38 species.[7]

Indian cobra (Naja naja)
Dissected head of Naja melanoleuca showing (A) the fangs and (B) the venom gland
  1. ^ Spawls, S; Branch, B (1995). The Dangerous Snakes of Africa (1st. ed.). Ralph Curtis Books. ISBN 9780883590294. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  2. ^ Zhao, E; Adler, K (1993). Herpetology of China (1st ed.). Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles. p. 522. ISBN 9780916984281. OCLC 716490697. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. ^ Vogel, G (31 March 2006). Terralog: Venomous Snakes of Asia, Vol. 14 (1 ed.). Frankfurt Am Main: Hollywood Import & Export. p. 148. ISBN 978-3936027938. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. ^ von Plettenberg Laing, Anthony (2018). "A multilocus phylogeny of the cobra clade elapids". MSC Thesis.
  5. ^ "Naja". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  6. ^ Wallach, Van; Wüster, W; Broadley, Donald G. (2009). "In praise of subgenera: taxonomic status of cobras of the genus Naja Laurenti (Serpentes: Elapidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2236 (1): 26–36. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2236.1.2. S2CID 14702999.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wuster18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).