False Water Cobra

Open encyclopedia reference

Hydrodynastes gigas is a New World species of large dipsadine snake endemic to South America. Aglyphous snake with enlarged posterior maxillary teeth, not grooved, associated with Duvernoy's gland secretions. endemic to South America. Common names include false cobra, false water cobra, South American water cobra, and Brazilian smooth snake. It is also sometimes referred to as boipevaçu, ñacaniná or yacaniná, from the Guarani ñakanina ('alert head'), mboi-peba, surucucu-do-pantanal, and víbora ladradora ('barking snake').

A mildly venomous species, the false water cobra is so named because when it is threatened, it "hoods" as a true cobra (genus Naja) does. Unlike a true cobra, however, it does not rear up, but instead remains horizontal. No valid subspecies are currently recognized.

Wikipedia contributors, Hydrodynastes gigas; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:10:28.021938+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Hydrodynastes gigas (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)

Name authority

(Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)

Common name

False Water Cobra

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Colubridae

Genus

Hydrodynastes

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
12. familyColubridae
13. subfamilyDipsadinae
14. genusHydrodynastes
15. speciesHydrodynastes gigas (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Hydrodynastes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 1,632 records assigned to Colubridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Duméril, A.M.C., G. BIBRON & A.H.A. DUMÉRIL. (1854). Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 7 (partie 1). Paris, Xvi + 780 S. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3N6YD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.