Arabian cobra Naja haje arabicus

[Bushbaby]

Had a great time in UAE with Damien, and actually got to know BB a little better.

Hope you mean Bill Branch. lol

[armata]

Why did I know you would respond

our secrets out!!!!

[Bushbaby]

Darn!! I told you what BV would do if he found out!! lol

[dave]

Hi Folks,

Just back from various trips and now immersed in a deluge of teaching, marking and other stuff.

Yes, I'm afraid things move slowly on the systematics/DNA front... Getting enough material together for a thorough study takes time, so does cajoling someone to do the lab work, and so does dealing with all the cr*p that the University system throws at us to use up our time...


[sound of violins, please]

So no, the Naja haje stuff has not been published yet, although we are very hopeful that we will get somewhere with it this year.

As a partial sneak preview, Naja haje arabica are distinct from N. haje haje at mtDNA level, but not hugely so (much less than you would expect from looking at them), so whether one wants to call them a species or a ssp. is up in the air. N.h. legionis can be forgotten - it's just a colour form of N. haje haje. As for the rest, I'll have to keep you in suspense

Real Naja haje arabica don't seem to be in the European trade. You do see Naja haje arabica offered for sale on occasion, but every time I dropped everything and flew/drove halfway across Europe to get a sample, they turned out to be mislabelled N. annulifera (yes, really! - that batch originated in the Netherlands), or Naja haje haje from Egypt. Apparently some Egyptian dealers are trying to add a zero to the price they get for their ordinary haje by calling them "Naja haje arabica Sinai" - they ain't arabica, and there are no Naja in the Sinai. Apart from that it's all kosher, or should I say Halal. In any case, if anyone offers you Naja haje arabica for sale, make sure you get photos and scale counts before parting with cash!

Thanks heaps to Damien for giving us samples of the real McCoy!

Cheers,

WW

hi,

what came out of the study's ?

greetz
dave

[vipersgarden]

very beautiful species!

Mario