Boulengerina

Boulengerina
	Boulengerina annulata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Naja
Subgenus:	Boulengerina; Dollo, 1886
Type species
	Boulengerina stormsi; Dollo, 1886

Boulengerina is a genus or subgenus of elapid snakes known commonly as water cobras, so named because of their semiaquatic nature. The genus was recognised to have two species, which are found in central and southern Africa. Some recent molecular studies have suggested that the genus Boulengerina should be synonymised with Naja, because the water cobras are closely related to some species of Naja.[1]

Wallach, Wüster and Broadley, re-ranked Boulengerina as a subgenus within Naja comprising the two species already recognised as forming genus Boulengerina plus Naja melanoleuca, as Naja (Boulengerina) melanoleuca, and the species formerly known as Paranaja multifasciata, now Naja (Boulengerina) multifasciata.[2]

Etymology

The generic name, Boulengerina, is in honor of Belgian-born British herpetologist George Albert Boulenger.[3]

Species

Ringed water cobra, Boulengerina annulata (Buchholz & W. Peters, 1876)
Christy's water cobra, Boulengerina christyi (Boulenger, 1904)

Geographic distribution

B. annulata – Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Burundi, and Zambia.
B. christyi – Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo.

References

Nagy ZT, Vidal N, Vences M, Branch WR, Pauwels OSG, Wink M, Joger U (2005). "Molecular systematics of African Colubroidea (Squamata: Serpentes)". In: Huber BA, Sinclair BJ, Lampe K-H (Editors) (2005). African Biodiversity: Molecules, Organisms, Ecosystems. Bonn: Museum Koenig. pp. 221–228.
Wallach V, Wüster W, Broadley DG (2009). "In praise of subgenera: taxonomic status of cobras of the genus Naja Laurenti (Serpentes: Elapidae)". Zootaxa 2236: 26–36. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02236p036.pdf
Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Boulengerina, p. 33).

External links

Genus Naja at The Reptile Database

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[1] Nagy ZT, Vidal N, Vences M, Branch WR, Pauwels OSG, Wink M, Joger U (2005). "Molecular systematics of African Colubroidea (Squamata: Serpentes)". In: Huber BA, Sinclair BJ, Lampe K-H (Editors) (2005). African Biodiversity: Molecules, Organisms, Ecosystems. Bonn: Museum Koenig. pp. 221–228.

[2] Wallach V, Wüster W, Broadley DG (2009). "In praise of subgenera: taxonomic status of cobras of the genus Naja Laurenti (Serpentes: Elapidae)". Zootaxa 2236: 26–36. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02236p036.pdf

[3] Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Boulengerina, p. 33).