{{About|snakes with the common name cobra|other uses|Cobra (disambiguation)}} {{distinguish|Copra}} {{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} {{Paraphyletic group | auto = yes | subheader = Informal name for various snakes | fossil_range = Miocene–Holocene | image = Indiancobra.jpg | image_caption = Indian cobra (''Naja naja'') | image_alt = An Indian cobra (''Naja naja'') in a defensive posture | parent = Serpentes | subdivision = {{bulleted list |Genus ''Naja'' of family Elapidae |Several species within other genera of Elapidae |Species ''Hydrodynastes gigas'' of family Colubridae }}}}

'''Cobra''' is the common name of various venomous snakes, most of which belong to the genus ''Naja''.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cobra|volume=6|page=613}}</ref>

Many cobras are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.{{efn|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".}}

==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<ref name="BücherlBuckley2013">{{cite book|author1=Wolfgang Bücherl|author2=Eleanor E. Buckley|author3=Venancio Deulofeu|title=Venomous Animals and Their Venoms: Venomous Vertebrates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCzLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA492|date=17 September 2013|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-1-4832-6363-2|page=492}}</ref> * The king cobra or hamadryad (''Ophiophagus hannah'')<ref name="Surgery2013">{{cite book|author=United States. Department of the Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery|title=Venomous Snakes of the World: A Manual for Use by U. S. Amphibious Forces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQlECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA217|year=2013|publisher=Skyhorse|isbn=978-1-62087-623-7|page=217}}</ref> * The two species of tree cobras, Goldie's tree cobra (''Pseudohaje goldii'') and the black tree cobra (''Pseudohaje nigra'')<ref name="O'Shea2008">{{cite book|author=Mark O'Shea|title=Venomous Snakes of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bBz1-v1WUwC&pg=PA74|date=20 February 2008|publisher=New Holland|isbn=978-1-84773-086-2|page=74}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> * The two species of shield-nosed cobras, the Cape coral snake (''Aspidelaps lubricus'') and the shield-nosed cobra (''Aspidelaps scutatus'')<ref name="O'Shea2008"/>{{rp|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<ref name="O'Shea2008"/>{{rp|p.65}} * The eastern coral snake or American cobra (''Micrurus fulvius''), which also does not rear upwards and produce a hood when threatened<ref name="O'Shea2008"/>{{rp|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.<ref name="O'Shea2008"/>{{rp|p.53}}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary}}

{{SIA|snakes}} {{Animal common name|snakes}}

Category:Broad-concept articles Category:Snakes Category:Predatory animals