IV. Family Elapidae

This family also consists of advance snakes. All snakes belonging to this family are deadly venomous and aggressive in nature. The body is slender with a thin tail covered with smooth or keeled scales. The head is large and possesses a shield. The eyes are large with round pupil. The skeletal system has shown some adoptions, for example the vertebrae of the neck of some species are flattened out to form a hood like structure. They have small, immovable fangs, which are fixed at the base of the upper jaw and two or more small solid teeth are also present on both sides of the poisonous fangs. Poisonous glands are attached to the anterior end of the maxillary bones.

This family has terrestrial as well as aquatic species. These snakes are found in a variety of habitats but prefer to live on agricultural land. Most of them are nocturnal and feed on rats, mice lizards, frogs, small fishes and young birds. Their venom is either neurotoxic or myotoxic in nature. All species are oviparous and few of them are known for their brooding behaviour.

The snakes of this family are also found in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. In Pakistan, 2 genus genera and 4 species are found. These are as follows: