Subgenus Naja Laurenti, 1768

Naia Merrem, 1820: 147 (unjustified emendation of Naja Laurenti, 1768)

Aspis Wagler, 1830: 173 (not Laurenti) (type species Coluber naja Linnaeus, 1758) Tomyris Eichwald, 1831: 171 (type species Tomyris oxiana Eichwald, 1831) Naga Nicholson, 1874: 104 (unjustified emendation of Naja Laurenti, 1768)

† Palaeonaja Hoffstetter, 1939: 57 (type species † Palaeonaja romani Hoffstetter, 1939)

Type species: Naja lutescens Laurenti, 1768 (= Coluber naja Linnaeus, 1758), by subsequent designation (Leviton, 1968).

Gender: feminine.

Etymology: derived from the Sinhala Naya, cobra.

Distribution: southern and south-eastern Asia and the East Indies, from Transcaspia to the Philippines and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Content: eleven species:

Naja (Naja) atra Cantor, 1842: 482

Naja (Naja) kaouthia Lesson, 1831: 122

Naja (Naja) mandalayensis Slowinski & Wüster, 2000: 260

Naja (Naja) naja (Linnaeus, 1758: 221)

Naja (Naja) oxiana (Eichwald, 1831: 171)

Naja (Naja) philippinensis Taylor, 1922: 265

Naja (Naja) sagittifera Wall, 1913: 247

Naja (Naja) samarensis Peters, 1861: 690

Naja (Naja) siamensis Laurenti, 1768: 91

Naja (Naja) sputatrix Boie, 1827: 557

Naja (Naja) sumatrana Müller, 1890: 277

Diagnosis: Extracranial (ventral) anterior Vidian canal position, 0–1 solid maxillary teeth in all species (Wüster, 1990—only 6 out of 650 specimens examined in that study had 2 solid maxillary teeth), seven supralabials with penultimate (sixth) shield low, combination of single preocular and two (occasionally three) anterior temporals, rostral broader than deep; internasals shorter than prefrontals; fang structure variable, all species except N. naja and N. oxiana have some degree of adaptation to spitting (Wüster & Thorpe, 1992b). We tentatively include the extinct † Naja (Naja) romani (Hofstetter, 1939) in this subgenus based on the shared derived condition of the basisphenoid morphology and the vestibular window, despite the possession of two solid maxillary teeth (Szyndlar & Rage, 1990).

Comments: this is a morphologically relatively conserved, but ecologically highly adaptable subgenus that appears to be the result of a single colonization event of Asia from an African origin (Slowinski & Wüster, 2000; Wüster et al., 2007; Wüster, unpublished data).

The issue of the type species of Naja has a complex background. Laurenti’s (1768) Naja was based upon six species from Seba (1734 –1735), all of which Linnaeus (1758) included in his synonymy of Coluber naja (in addition to 1735: pl. 85, fig. 1 and 1735: pl. 94, fig. 1): N. brasiliensis (1735: pl. 89, fig. 4) = Naja naja, N. fasciata (1735: pl. 89, fig. 3) = Naja naja, N. lutescens (1734: pl. 44, fig. 1) = Naja naja, N. maculata (1735: pl. 90, fig. 2) = Naja naja, N. non Naja (1735: pl. 90, fig. 1) = Naja kaouthia, and N. siamensis (1735: pl. 89, figs. 1–2) = Naja siamensis . Naja naja (Linnaeus) has been considered the type species of Naja by tautonymy, monotypy, and subsequent designation of Stejneger (1936: 140), M. Smith (1943: 426), Oshima (1944: 204), and others. However, David & Vogel (1996: 146) suggested that those assumptions were incorrect and that the only valid type species designation was that of Williams & Wallach (1989: 97), who selected Naja lutescens . However, Leviton (1968: 547) designated Naja lutescens Laurenti (= Coluber naja Linnaeus) as the type species of Naja Laurenti and several earlier nomenclatural acts precede this action. Cantor (1847: 1038) could be considered the first revisor as he synonymized Naja lutescens with Coluber naja Linnaeus. Deraniyagala (1945: 108–109) then restricted the name Naja lutescens to the race of cobras inhabiting India south of 20° N Latitude. The type locality of Seba’s (1735) pl. 44, fig. 1 was given as “ India Orientali.” Deraniyagala (1945) recognized Naja naja lutescens as a subspecies and designated the type locality as Madras, with N. fasciata and N. maculata as synonyms.