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Naja oxiana (EICHWALD, 1831)

IUCN Red List - Naja oxiana - Data Deficient, DD
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Higher TaxaElapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Central Asian Cobra
G: Mittelasiatische Kobra 
SynonymTomyris oxiana EICHWALD 1831: 171
Naja oxiana — STRAUCH 1868: 284
Naja tripudians var. caeca BOULENGER 1896 (part.)
Naja naja oxiana — STEJNEGER 1907
Naja naja oxiana — SMITH 1943: 428
Naja oxiana — CHERNOV 1959: 163
Naja naja oxiana — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Naja oxiana — WELCH 1994: 93
Naja naja oxiana — SHARMA 2004
Naja (Naja) oxiana — WALLACH et al. 2009
Naja oxiana — WALLACH et al. 2014: 462
Naja oxiana — SHESTOPAL & SCHCHERBINA 2024 
DistributionAfghanistan, NE Iran, NW India (Jammu and Kashmir), Pakistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, SW Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

Type locality: Transcaspia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: unlocated, a 762 mm specimen 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: The only cobra species which occurs sympatrically with Naja oxiana is the Indian spectacled cobra, N. naja. The differences between the two taxa are shown in Table 2 (in WÜSTER 1998). Naja oxiana can be distinguished from all other Asiatic cobras on the basis of its high ventral andlor subcaudal scale counts. Specimens of the monocellate cobra (N. kaouthia) with exceptionally high ventral and subcaudal scale counts may be distinguished from N. oxiana by the possession of a hood mark, a distinct throat pattern with lateral spots, and a higher number of dorsal scale rows at the level of the 10th ventral.


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CommentVenomous!

Distribution: For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013, Shi et al. 2022: 3 (Fig. 1). 
EtymologyNamed after the Oxus river, a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. 
References
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  • BHARDWAJ, VIRENDER KUMAR & RAKESHWAR KAPOOR. 2022. A report on ophiophagy observed in Naja oxiana (Eichwald, 1831) from Himachal Pradesh, India. Hamadryad 39(1): 75–76. - get paper here
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  • Chernov, S.A. (Tschernow) 1959. Reptiles. in: Fauna of the Tajik SSR, Vol. XVIII [in Russian]. Presmykajuschtsch, Stalinabad, 203 pp.
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