Classification

Classification is organized into tiers, with each descending category becoming more specific to the organism.  This is the classification for the Black Mamba:

Domain: Eukarya            
This domain is one of three domains, and contains all organisms exhibiting membrane bound organelles, a true nucleus and linear chromosomes.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phylogenetic_Tree_of_Life.png

Kingdom: Animalia            
The Black Mamba is in the kingdom animalia which contains all eukaryotic organisms that lack a cell wall, can’t produce their own food, are motile at some point in their life cycle, and have flat mitochondrial cristae.

Phylum: Chordata            
The phylum chordata contains all animals with five unique characteristics: at some point in their life cycle they will exhibit a notochord, a dorsal nerve chord, pharyngeal gill slits, an endostyle, and a postnatal tail. To learn about another group in the chordata, click here.

Class: Reptilia            
The phylum reptilia contains all chordates that are cold blooded, have scales, and lay shelled eggs.

Order: Squamata            
The order Squamata contains all reptiles that have horned scales and exhibit quadrate bones, which allow the upper jaw to be more mobile.

Suborder: Serpentes            
The suborder Serpentes contains all Squamates that are legless, and lack eyelids and external ears.  Their more common name is snakes. To learn more about another order in reptilia, the lizards, click here or here.


Photo Courtesy of Sapphiren, http://www.flickr.com/photos/18161462@N00/346548232/

Family: Elapidae            
The family Elapidae contains all serpents that are proteroglyphs.  Proteroglyphs are a specialized snake that have fangs fixed towards the anterior of their mouth.  All members in this family are venomous.  To learn more about another family of snakes, click here.

Genus: Dendroaspis            
The genus Dendroaspis contains all the species of mambas.  There is the Eastern Green Mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps), the Western Green Mamba (Dendroaspis viridis), Jameson’s Mamba (Dendroaspis jamesoni), and the Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis).

Species: Dendroaspis polylepis            
The species Dendroaspis polylepis is commonly known as the black mamba.  You can learn more about this venomous snake as you read more!

Derived from http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/09/13/everything-about-bothrolycus/

Continue to Habitat

Home