The snake family that includes cobras, mambas, kraits, taipans, and coral snakes is Elapidae.
Elapids are venomous snakes with permanently erect, front-positioned fangs. Their members live mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, including Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas, and nearby ocean waters. The family also includes sea snakes, sea kraits, death adders, and the king cobra.
Elapidae is a family, not a single snake genus. For example, cobras belong mainly to Naja, mambas to Dendroaspis, kraits to Bungarus, and taipans to Oxyuranus. Coral snakes occur in genera including Micrurus and Micruroides. This is why the named snakes look and behave differently while sharing the same broader classification.
Elapids are often confused with vipers, but their fang arrangements differ. Elapid fangs are relatively short and fixed near the front of the mouth; vipers have longer, hinged fangs that fold back. Many elapid venoms strongly affect the nervous system, although venom chemistry varies substantially among species.