Cape cobra
| Cape cobra | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae |
| Genus: | Naja |
| Subgenus: | Uraeus |
| Species: | N. nivea |
| Binomial name | |
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Naja nivea (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Cape cobra distribution in green | |
| Synonyms | |
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Coluber niveus Linnaeus, 1758 |
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Coluber niveus Linnaeus, 1758
Vipera (Echidna) flava Merrem, 1820
Naja nivea Boie, 1827
Naja gutturalis Smith, 1838
Naja intermixta Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854
Naja haje var. capensis Jan, 1863
Naia flava Boulenger, 1887
Naja flava Sternfeld, 1910
Naja nivea FitzSimons & Brain, 1958
Naja nivea Harding & Welch, 1980
Naja nivea Auerbach, 1987
Naja nivea Welch, 1994
Naja (Uraeus) nivea Wallach, 2009
The Cape cobra (Naja nivea), also called the yellow cobra, is a moderate-sized, highly venomous species of cobra inhabiting a wide variety of biomes across southern Africa including arid savanna, fynbos, bushveld, desert and semi-desert regions. The species is diurnal and is a feeding generalist, preying on a number of different species and carrion. Predators of this species include birds of prey, honey badgers and various species of mongoose. The Cape cobra is also known as the "geelslang" (yellow snake) and "bruinkapel" (brown cobra) in South Africa. Afrikaans speaking South Africans also refer to the Cape cobra as "koperkapel" ("copper cobra"), mainly because of a rich yellow colour variation. This species has no known subspecies.
Naja nivea was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The generic name naja is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word nāgá () meaning "cobra". The specific epithet nivea is derived from the Latin words either nix or nivis meaning "snow" or niveus meaning "snowy". The connection with snow is obscure, but might have been suggested by discolouration of the first preserved specimens received by taxonomists in Europe.
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