Naja is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of venomous elapid snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

s. Although there are several other genera that share the common name, Naja are the most recognized and most widespread group of snakes commonly known as cobra

Cobra

Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...

s. The genus Naja consists of 20 to 22 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

, but has undergone several taxonomic

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 revisions in recent years, so sources vary greatly. They range throughout Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, southeastern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

.

Etymology

From Old Indic nāga, cognate with English 'snake', Germanic: *snēk-a-, Proto-IE

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

: *(s)nēg-o-.

Description

Naja species are long, relatively slender snakes. Most species are capable of attaining lengths of 1.84 metres (6 ft). Maximum lengths for some of the larger species of cobra is around 3.1 metres (10.2 ft), with the Egyptian cobra

Egyptian cobra

The Egyptian cobra is a species in the genus Naja found in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is one of the largest Naja species in Africa.- Description :...

 arguably being the longest species. All have a characteristic ability to raise the front quarters of their bodies off the ground and flatten their necks to appear larger to a potential predator.

Venom

All species in the genus Naja are capable of delivering a fatal bite in a human. Most species have strongly neurotoxic

Neurotoxin

A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue...

 venom, which attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis, but many also have cytotoxic features which causes swelling and necrosis

Necrosis

Necrosis is the premature death of cells in living tissue. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, toxins, or trauma. This is in contrast to apoptosis, which is a naturally occurring cause of cellular death...

 and has a significant anticoagulant effect.

Several Naja species, referred to as spitting cobra

Spitting cobra

A spitting cobra is one of several species of cobras that have the ability to eject venom from their fangs when defending themselves against predators. The sprayed venom is harmless to intact skin...

s, have developed a specialized venom delivery mechanism, in which their front fangs, instead of releasing venom through the tips (similar to a hypodermic needle

Hypodermic needle

A hypodermic needle is a hollow needle commonly used with a syringe to inject substances into the body or extract fluids from it...

), have a rifled

Rifling

Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...

 opening in the front surface which allows the snake to propel the venom out of the mouth. While typically referred to as spitting, the action is more like squirting. The range and accuracy with which they can shoot their venom varies from species to species, but it is used primarily as a defense mechanism. Once sprayed onto a victim's skin, the venom acts as a severe irritant. If it is introduced to the eye, it can cause a severe burning sensation and temporary or even permanent blindness if not cleaned out immediately and thoroughly.

Species

Species	Authority	Subsp.*	Common name	Geographic range
N. anchietae	Bocage José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage was a Portuguese zoologist and politician. He was the curator of Zoology at the Museum of Natural History in Lisbon. He published numerous works on mammals, birds, and fishes. In the 1880s he became the Minister of the Navy and later the Minister for Foreign Affairs... , 1879	0	Anchieta's cobra	Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, eastern Zimbabwe
N. annulifera	Peters Wilhelm Peters Wilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens... , 1854	0	Snouted cobra	Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe
N. arabica	Scortecci, 1932	0	Arabian cobra	Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
N. ashei Naja ashei Naja ashei is an African snake. It is the world's largest species of spitting cobra It is found in the dry lowlands of northern and eastern Kenya and similar habitats in northeastern Uganda, southern Ethiopia and southern Somalia.Its differences to other spitting cobras were realized in the 1960s,...	Wüster Wolfgang Wüster Wolfgang Wüster is a herpetologist and lecturer in zoology at the University of Wales.Wüster attained his bachelor's degree at the University of Cambridge in 1985 and his doctorate at University of Aberdeen in 1990. His primary area of research is the systematics and ecology of venomous snakes...  and Broadley, 2007	0	Ashe's spitting cobra (Giant spitting cobra)	Southern Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, eastern Uganda
N. atra Naja atra The Chinese cobra The Chinese cobra The Chinese cobra (Naja atra, also known as Taiwanese cobra, is a species of genus Naja found mostly in southern China and Taiwan. Theodore Edward Cantor first described the iridescent black monocled cobra from Chusan Island in 1842...	Cantor Theodore Edward Cantor Theodore Edward Cantor was a Danish physician, zoologist and botanist.Cantor worked for the British East India Company. He made natural history collections in Penang and Malacca... , 1842	0	Chinese cobra	Southern China, Northern Laos, Taiwan, northern Vietnam
N. haje	(Linnaeus Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology... , 1758)	0	Egyptian cobra	Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara
N. kaouthia Naja kaouthia The monocled cobra is a cobra species, which is widespread across central and southern Asia. It has been assessed as Least Concern by IUCN owing to its large distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, including anthropogenically altered environments, and its reported abundance...	Lesson René-Primevère Lesson René Primevère Lesson was a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist.Lesson was born at Rochefort, and at the age of sixteen he entered the Naval Medical School there... , 1831	0	Monocled cobra	Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, southern China, eastern India, Laos, northwestern Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, southeastern Tibet, Vietnam
N. katiensis	Angel, 1922	0	Mali cobra	Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Gambia, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo
N. mandalayensis	Slowinski Joseph Bruno Slowinski Joseph Bruno "Joe" Slowinski, Ph.D was an American herpetologist who worked extensively with elapid snakes.He was born on November 15, 1962 in New York City, New York...  & Wüster Wolfgang Wüster Wolfgang Wüster is a herpetologist and lecturer in zoology at the University of Wales.Wüster attained his bachelor's degree at the University of Cambridge in 1985 and his doctorate at University of Aberdeen in 1990. His primary area of research is the systematics and ecology of venomous snakes... , 2000	0	Mandalay spitting cobra (Burmese spitting cobra)	Burma
N. melanoleuca Naja melanoleuca The Forest Cobra, also known as the Black and White Cobra is a species of cobra in the Elapidae family, native to Africa....	Hallowell, 1857	0	Forest cobra	Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tom`e, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
N. mossambica	Peters, 1854	0	Mozambique spitting cobra	Extreme SE Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, NE Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania (including Pemba Island), Zambia, Zimbabwe
N. najaT	(Linnaeus, 1758)	0	Indian cobra (Spectacled cobra)	Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
N. nigricincta	Bogert Charles Mitchill Bogert Charles Mitchill Bogert was an American herpetologist, and curator of herpetology and researcher for the American Museum of Natural History.-Early life and education:... , 1940	1	Zebra spitting cobra	Angola, Namibia, South Africa
N. nigricollis Naja nigricollis Naja nigricollis is a species of spitting cobra found in Sub Saharan Africa. It is feared throughout its range and has the capability of spraying venom at attackers as a defensive mechanism...	Reinhardt Johan Reinhardt Johannes Christopher Hagemann Reinhardt was a professor in zoology at the University of Copenhagen.Born in Rendalen parish in Norway, his father, Johannes Henrik Reinhardt, was a priest, and his mother, Johanne Elisabeth Mommesen, was from Holmestrand . He was not baptized Johannes, but adopted... , 1843	2	Black-necked spitting cobra	Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (except in the center), Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Somalia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia
N. nivea	(Linnaeus, 1758)	0	Cape cobra (Yellow Cobra)	Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa
N. nubiae	Wüster & Broadly, 2003	0	Nubian spitting cobra	Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Niger, Sudan
N. oxiana Naja oxiana Naja oxiana or the Central Asian Cobra is a species of venomous snake found in Central Asia.-Distribution:It is found in Afghanistan, NE Iran, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, SW Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The type locality is Transcaspia....	(Eichwald Karl Eichwald Karl Eduard von Eichwald was a Russian geologist and physician.Eichwald was a Baltic German born at Mitau in Courland... , 1831)	0	Central Asian cobra	Afghanistan, North-west India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
N. pallida	Boulenger George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:... , 1896	0	Red spitting cobra	Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania
N. philippinensis	Taylor Edward Harrison Taylor Edward Harrison Taylor was an American herpetologist from Kansas.He was born in Maysville, Missouri and studied at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, graduating with a B.A. in 1912. Subsequently, he went to the Philippines, where at first he held a teacher's post in a village in central... , 1922	0	Philippine cobra	Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro)
N. sagittifera	Wall Frank Wall Frank Wall was a physician and herpetologist who lived in Sri Lanka and India.Wall was born in Colombo, Ceylon . His father worked there and was responsible for initiating the study of natural history on the island. Wall studied medicine in London and joined the Indian Medical Service in 1893... , 1913	0	Andaman cobra	India (Andaman Islands)
N. samarensis	Peters, 1861	0	Peters' cobra	Philippines (Mindanao, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Camiguin)
N. senegalensis	Trape, Chirio & Wüster, 2009	0		Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, ?Guinea-Bissau, ?Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal
N. siamensis Naja siamensis Naja siamensis or the Indo-Chinese Cobra is a species of spitting cobra found in Southeast Asia. It is one of the six spitting cobras found in Asia.-Description:...	Laurenti Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti was an Austrian naturalist of Italian origin.Laurenti is considered the auctor of the class Reptilia through his authorship of on the poisonous function of reptiles and amphibians... , 1768	0	Indo-Chinese spitting cobra	Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
N. sputatrix	F. Boie Friedrich Boie Friedrich Boie was a German scientist and brother of Heinrich Boie. He was born at Meldorf in Holstein and died at Kiel.... , 1827	0	Indonesian cobra	Indonesia (Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, East Timor)
N. sumatrana	Müller Johannes Peter Müller Johannes Peter Müller , was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, and ichthyologist not only known for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge.-Early years and education:... , 1887	0	Golden spitting cobra	Brunei, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Bangka, Belitung), Malaysia, Philippines (Palawan), southern Thailand, Singapore

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.

^T) Type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

.

Taxonomy

The genus contains several species complex

Species complex

A species complex is a group of closely related species, where the exact demarcation between species is often unclear or cryptic owing to their recent and usually still incomplete reproductive isolation. Ring species, superspecies and cryptic species complex are example of species complex...

es of closely related and often similar species, some of them only recently described or defined. Several recent taxonomic studies have revealed species not included in the current listing in ITIS:

• Naja anchietae (Bocage
  José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage
  José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage was a Portuguese zoologist and politician. He was the curator of Zoology at the Museum of Natural History in Lisbon. He published numerous works on mammals, birds, and fishes. In the 1880s he became the Minister of the Navy and later the Minister for Foreign Affairs...
  
  , 1879). A.k.a. Anchieta's cobra. Regarded as a subspecies of N. haje by Mertens (1937) and of N. annulifera by Broadley (1995). Regarded as a full species by Broadley and Wüster (2004).
• Naja arabica Scortecci, 1932. A.k.a. Arabian cobra. Long considered a subspecies of N. haje, this was recently raised to the status of a whole species
• Naja ashei
  Naja ashei
  Naja ashei is an African snake. It is the world's largest species of spitting cobra It is found in the dry lowlands of northern and eastern Kenya and similar habitats in northeastern Uganda, southern Ethiopia and southern Somalia.Its differences to other spitting cobras were realized in the 1960s,...
  
  Broadley and Wüster, 2007. A.k.a. Ashe’s spitting cobra. This is a newly described species found in Africa
  Africa
  Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
  
  .
• Naja nigricincta Bogert, 1940. This was long regarded as a subspecies of Naja nigricollis, but was recently found to be a full species (with N. nigricincta woodi as a subspecies).
• Naja senegalensis Trape et al., 2009. This new species, encompassing what were previously considered to be the West African savanna populations of N. haje, was recently described as a new species.

Two recent molecular phylogenetic studies have also supported the incorporation of the species normally assigned to the genera Boulengerina

Boulengerina

Boulengerina is a genus of elapid snakes known commonly as water cobras, so named because of their semi-aquatic nature. The genus has two recognized species, which are found in central and southern Africa...

and Paranaja into Naja, as both are closely related to the forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca

Naja melanoleuca

The Forest Cobra, also known as the Black and White Cobra is a species of cobra in the Elapidae family, native to Africa....

)