Australasian Journal of Herpetology
A
reclassification of the True Cobras; species formerly referred to the Genera Naja, Boulengerina and Paranaja.
Raymond Hoser
488 Park Road, Park Orchards, Victoria, 3114, Australia.
Phone: +61 3 9812 3322 Fax: 9812 3355 E-mail:
adder@smuggled.com
Submitted 28 February 2009, Accepted 19 March 2009, Published 23
March 2009.
Originally published in hard copy in Australasian Journal of
Herpetology Issue 7
ABSTRACT
Recent
studies of so-called “True Cobras” by different authors have been consistent in
ascertaining the relationships between taxa.
This includes the identifying of four major well-defined clades, the
relationships of which had for a long time been confusing due to apparent
convergence in recent evolution.
Genus
names are available for two of the four.
The remaining two genera are formally diagnosed and named herein.
Included
within these newly identified and named genera are the majority of African
species.
Keywords: new taxa,
snake, Cobra, taxonomy, Spracklandus gen. nov., Wellsus gen. nov.
See media release about the paper
here:
See list of True Cobra species under
the new classification here: