hold that the Sanskrit word is cognate with English "snake", Germanic: *snēk-a-, Proto-IE: *(s)nēg-o-,[8] but Manfred Mayrhofer calls this etymology "not credible", and suggests a more plausible etymology connecting it with Sanskrit nagna, "hairless" or "naked".

[10] All have a characteristic ability to raise the front quarters of their bodies off the ground and flatten their necks to appear larger to a potential predator.

The venom has little or no effect on unbroken skin, but if it enters the eyes, it can cause a severe burning sensation and temporary or even permanent blindness if not washed out immediately and thoroughly.

The timing of the origin of spitting in African and Asian Naja species corresponds to the separation of the human and chimpanzee evolutionary lineages in Africa and the arrival of Homo erectus in Asia.

The authors therefore hypothesise that the arrival of bipedal, tool-using primates may have triggered the evolution of spitting in cobras.

The spectacled cobras that are sympatric with N. oxiana, in Pakistan and far northwest India, also have a high potency of 0.22 mg/kg.

[28] The Naja species are a medically important group of snakes due to the number of bites and fatalities they cause across their geographical range.

[32] Mortality rate for Naja atra is between 15 and 20%, 5–10% for N. nigricollis,[33] 50% for N. nivea,[30] 20–25% for N. naja,[34] In cases where victims of cobra bites are medically treated using normal treatment protocol for elapid type envenomation, differences in prognosis depend on the cobra species involved.

Renal damage and cardiotoxicity are also clinical manifestations of envenomation caused by N. oxiana, though they are rare and secondary.

[36] The untreated mortality rate among those envenomed by N. oxiana approaches 80%, the highest among all species within the genus Naja.

Response to treatment with antivenom is generally poor among patients, so mechanical ventilation and endotracheal intubation is required.

As a result, mortality among those treated for N. oxiana envenomation is still relatively high (up to 30%) compared to all other species of cobra (<1%).

Several recent taxonomic studies have revealed species not included in the current listing in ITIS:[5][37] Two recent molecular phylogenetic studies have also supported the incorporation of the species previously assigned to the genera Boulengerina and Paranaja into Naja, as both are closely related to the forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca).

[4] The controversial amateur herpetologist Raymond Hoser proposed the genus Spracklandus for the African spitting cobras.

[6] International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature issued an opinion that it "finds no basis under the provisions of the Code for regarding the name Spracklandus as unavailable".