Rinkhals
Hemachatus
The rinkhals (; Hemachatus haemachatus), also known as the ringhals or ring-necked spitting cobra, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is found in parts of southern Africa. It is not a true cobra in that it does not belong to the genus Naja, but instead belongs to the monotypic genus Hemachatus. While rinkhals bear a great resemblance to true cobras, they also possess some remarkable differences from these, resulting in their placement outside the genus Naja.
In 2023, the Zimbabwe population was described as a new species, H. nyangensis.
2 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 2 known species
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Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Hemachatus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 30651.