Ophiophagus

Ophiophagus hannah

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Elapoidea

Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Amorphea Cladus: Obazoa Cladus: Opisthokonta Cladus: Holozoa Cladus: Filozoa Cladus: Choanozoa Regnum: Animalia Subregnum: Eumetazoa Cladus: ParaHoxozoa Cladus: Bilateria Cladus: Nephrozoa Superphylum: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Cladus: Olfactores Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Cladus: Eugnathostomata Cladus: Osteichthyes Cladus: Sarcopterygii Cladus: Rhipidistia Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes Cladus: Elpistostegalia Cladus: Stegocephali Superclassis: Tetrapoda Cladus: Reptiliomorpha Cladus: Amniota Cladus: Sauropsida Classis: Reptilia Cladus: Eureptilia Cladus: Romeriida Cladus: Diapsida Cladus: Neoreptilia Cladus: Parapleurota Cladus: Neodiapsida Cladus: Sauria Cladus: Lepidosauromorpha Superordo: Lepidosauria Ordo: Squamata Cladus: Toxicofera Subordo: Serpentes Cladus: Caenophidia Superfamilia: Elapoidea

Familia: Elapidae
Subfamilia: Elapinae
Genus: Ophiophagus
Species (4): O. bungarus – O. hannah – O. kaalinga – O. salvatana

Name

Ophiophagus Günther, 1864: 340 [conserved name]

• Type species: Hamadryas elaps Günther, 1858, by monotypy.
• Gender: masculine.
• Placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology by Opinion 709 (1964: 210).

Synonyms

• Hamadryas Cantor, 1838 [nomen praeoccupatum pro Hamadryas Hübner, 1806]

References

Primary references

• Günther, A.C.L.G. 1864. The Reptiles of British India. Ray Society: London. xxvii + 452 pp. BHL Reference page. 
• International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 1964. Opinion 709. Dendraspis Fitzinger, 1843 (Reptilia): Suppressed under the Plenary Powers. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 21(3): 210–211. BHL Reference page. 

Additional references

• Das, I., Gowri Shankar, P., Swamy, P., Williams, R.C., Lalremsanga, H.T., Prashanth, P., Sahoo, G., Vijayakumar, S.P., Höglund, J., Shanker, K., Dutta, S.K., Ganesh, S.R. & Wüster, W. 2024. Taxonomic revision of the king cobra Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836) species complex (Reptilia: Serpentes: Elapidae), with the description of two new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 961: 1–51. DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.961.2681 Reference page. 

Links

• Uetz, P., Freed, P., Aguilar, R., F. Reyes, J. Kudera & Hošek, J. (eds.) 2026. Ophiophagus . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 21 May 2025.

Vernacular names

• Deutsch: Königskobra
• English: King Cobra
• español: Cobra Real
• suomi: Kuningaskobra
• français: Cobra Royal
• italiano: Cobra Reale
• 日本語: キングコブラ属
• Nederlands: Koningscobra
• português: Cobra-real
• slovenščina: Kraljeva Kobra
• svenska: Kungskobra
• தமிழ்: இராச நாகம்
• ไทย: งูจงอาง, งูเห่าช้าง, งูบองหลา

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