Cobra Temporal range: Miocene–Holocene
Indian cobra (Naja naja) in a defensive posture
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae (with some exceptions) Laurenti, 1768

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

Biology

All of the known cobras are venomous and many are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.^[2]

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^[3]
• The king cobra or hamadryad (Ophiophagus hannah)^[4]
• The two species of tree cobras, Goldie's tree cobra (Pseudohaje goldii) and the black tree cobra (Pseudohaje nigra)^[5]
• The two species of shield-nosed cobras, the Cape coral snake (Aspidelaps lubricus) and the shield-nosed cobra (Aspidelaps scutatus)^[5]: 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^[5]: p.65
• The eastern coral snake or American cobra (Micrurus fulvius), which also does not rear upwards and produce a hood when threatened^[5]: 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.^[5]: p.53