Aspidelaps

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Elapoidea

Familia: Elapidae
Genus: Aspidelaps
Species: A. lubricus – A. scutatus
Name

Aspidelaps (Fitzinger, 1843)
Vernacular names
Deutsch: Schildnasenkobras
English: Shield-nose Snakes

Aspidelaps is a genus of venomous elapid snakes endemic to Africa. Species in the genus Aspidelaps are commonly called shield-nosed cobras or coral cobras after their cobra hoods and enlarged rostral (nose) scales. However, the hood is not nearly as well developed in Aspidelaps as it is in Naja.

Species

Image	Species	Authority	Subsp.*	Common name	Geographic range
	A. lubricus	(Laurenti, 1768)	2	Cape coral snake	South Africa (Cape Province), southern Angola, Namibia
	A. scutatus	(A. Smith, 1849)	3	shield-nosed cobra	Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, north-east South Africa, Mozambique

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Aspidelaps.
Venom

Aspidelaps venom is neurotoxic, and Aspidelaps bites have caused human deaths in a few cases.[1]
References

Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp., 112 color plates. (Genus Aspidelaps, p. 103).

External links

Genus Aspidelaps at The Reptile Database

Further reading

Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphae and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Aspidelaps, p. 390).
Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised Edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. (Genus Aspidelaps, p. 103).
Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Aspidelaps, new genus, p. 28). (in Latin).