Elapidae
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The Elapidae family of venomous snakes includes the cobras, mambas, kraits, sea snakes and coral snakes, as well as all the venomous snakes of Australia such as taipans, brown snakes or death adders. The Elapids have hollow fangs located at the front of the mouth, but these fangs cannot be erected like those of the true vipers belonging to the Viperidae family. Instead, elapids must actually bite their prey instead of stabbing at it like a true viper.
The type genus was originally called Elaps, but it was later moved to another family. Contrarily to what usually happens in botany, the family is not renamed, but the removed genus (into Homoroselaps). It was still later moved back to the Elapidae, but no longer to subfamily Elapinae.
The most venomous snake on Earth is the Fierce Snake.
Taxonomic note
The sea snake, belonging to genus Hydrophis, is sometimes placed in a different family, the Hydrophiidae.
External link
- genera source (http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~uetz/families/Elapidae.html)
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174118) Serpentes
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