The many-banded snake (''Naja multifasciata''), also known as the burrowing cobra is a
species of
venomous elapid snake. The species is found in the
Republic of Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
, the
Democratic Republic of Congo and
Cameroon in
Africa.
Description
Despite the common name, the species is not actually banded, but overall iridescent
black, with cream colored blotching on each
scale
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number ...
. The snakes grow to approximately in length.
Venom
Not much is known about their
venom, but it is likely a
neurotoxin
Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature ner ...
, like many other elapid snakes. The genus ''Paranaja'' was synonymised with ''
Naja'' in a recent molecular phylogenetic study, as this species is closely related to the forest cobra (''
Naja melanoleuca
The forest cobra (''Naja melanoleuca''), also commonly called the black cobra and the black and white-lipped cobra, is a species of venomous snake in the Family (biology), family Elapidae. The species is native to Africa, mostly the central and ...
'')
[Wüster, W., Crookes, S., Ineich, I., Mané, Y., Pook, C.E., Trape, J.-F. & Broadley D.G. (2007) The phylogeny of cobras inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences: evolution of venom spitting and the phylogeography of the African spitting cobras (Serpentes: Elapidae: Naja nigricollis complex). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45, 437–453.]
Subspecies
*''Naja multifasciata anomala'' (
Sternfeld, 1917)
*''Naja multifasciata duttoni'' (
Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer
* Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo
* George Albert Boulenger (1858–1 ...
, 1904)
*''Naja multifasciata multifasciata'' (
Werner, 1902)
References
External links
*
Naja
Reptiles of Africa
Reptiles described in 1902
Taxa named by Franz Werner
{{Elapidae-stub