black-necked spitting cobra
naja nigricollis latin

Important cobra species include the forest cobra and the black-necked spitting cobra.

Naja nigricollis, commonly known as the black-necked spitting cobra, is a species of spitting cobra found mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Its differences to other spitting cobras were realized in the 1960s, but the species was initially regarded by most merely as a brown-colored form of the black-necked spitting cobra (N. nigricollis).

This species had long been considered to be a subspecies of the black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis), but morphological and genetic differences have led to its recognition as a separate species.

However, there are exceptions - a black-necked spitting cobra's (Naja nigricollis) venom consists mainly of hemotoxins, while the Mojave rattlesnake's (Crotalus scutulatus) venom is primarily neurotoxic.

Venom from this species is very similar in composition to that of other spitting cobras, including the black-necked spitting cobra (N. nigricollis) and the red spitting cobra (N. pallida), which are both found in the same areas.

Unlike other snakes, Naja nigricollis can be either nocturnal or diurnal depending on the time of year, geographic location, and average daytime temperature.