Naja ashei WÜSTER & BROADLEY, 2007
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Ashe’s spitting cobra |
| Synonym | Naja ashei WÜSTER & BROADLEY 2007 Naja (Afronaja) ashei — WALLACH et al. 2009 Naja ashei — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 599 Naja ashei — LIVIGNI 2013: 405 Afronaja ashei — WALLACH et al. 2014: 9 Naja ashei — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 557 |
| Distribution | Kenya, S Somalia, SE Ethiopia, NE Uganda, NE Tanzania, Republic of South Sudan (RSS) Type locality: Watamu, Kenya (3° 21’S: 40° 01’E). |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: NMK S/3993, female, National Museums of Kenya, coll. Royjan Taylor, maintained in captivity at Bio-Ken Snake farm until 29/09/2004. Paratypes: BMNH. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Naja ashei differs from all other African spitting cobras in possessing a unique clade of mtDNA haplotypes. From the data presented here, we identified 12 fixed nucleotide differences that differentiate N. ashei from the other eastern African spitting Naja. These correspond to positions 105, 169 and 315 of the ND4 sequence of the holotype (DQ897706), and to positions 60, 108, 153, 201, 348, 381, 507, 630 and 676 of the cytochrome b sequence of the same specimen (DQ897749), the diagnostic bases at these positions being C, T, G, C, G, T, T, T, A, C, T and A, respectively. Additional details (3104 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Venomous! |
| Etymology | Named after the late James Ashe (1925–2004), in recognition of his contributions to East African herpetology, of the inspiration he gave to others working on the herpetofauna of this part of the world (see Spawls, 2004), of his early recognition of the distinctiveness of the species that now bears his name, and in gratitude for his support for this work. |
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