DNA analysis of Elapidae family of snakes shows they have an Asian origin, not African

A small team of evolutionary biologists has found that a family of snakes known as Elapidae originated in Asia, not Africa, as many in the field have thought.

Members of the family did not appear in Africa for another 5 million years—and members of the family colonized Africa four different times. The researchers claim that their work effectively refutes claims of an African origin for the elapoid family of snakes—it was Asia, they insist.