List of Serpentes families 5454576 223163062 2008-07-02T21:04:51Z Jwinius 141528 /* Taxonomy */ Changed the wlinks to the sci. names for accuracy and common names to lower case. Changed a few of the names and images. {{Taxobox | name = Snakes | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Reptile|Sauropsida]] | ordo = [[Squamata]] | subordo = '''Serpentes''' | subordo_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[1758]] }} This is an overview of the suborder [[Serpentes]], its two infraorders (subdivisions) and the [[family (biology)|families]] they contain. This is the group of [[reptiles]] commonly known as [[snakes]]. == Taxonomy == There are two [[infraorder]]s of living snakes: [[Alethinophidia]] and [[Scolecophidia]]. This separation is based on primarily on [[comparative anatomy|morphological]] characteristics between family groups, but more recently, [[mitochondrial DNA]]. As with most taxonomic classifications, there are many different interpretations of the evolutionary relationships. These include moving of families to different infraorders, merging or splitting of the infraorders and merging and splitting of the families. For instance, many sources classify [[Boidae]] and [[Pythonidae]] as the same family, or keep others, such as [[Elapidae]] and [[Hydrophiidae]], separate for practical reasons despite their extremely close relation. {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="100%" align="center" {{bgcolor-blue}}|'''[[Alethinophidia]]''' 15 families |- !Family!!Common Names!!Example Species!!Example Photo |- |[[Acrochordidae]]<br><small>[[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1831</small>||File snakes||Arafura file snake (''[[Acrochordus arafurae|Acrochordus&nbsp;arafurae]]'')||[[Image:Acrochordus_arafurae_ugmedia.jpg|100px]] |- |[[Aniliidae]]<br><small>[[Leonhard Hess Stejneger|Stejneger]], 1907</small>||Coral pipe snakes||False coral snake (''[[Anilius scytale|Anilius&nbsp;scytale]]'')|| |- |[[Anomochilidae]]<br><small>Cundall, Wallach and [[Douglas Athon Rossman|Rossman]], 1993</small>||Dwarf pipe snakes||Leonard's pipe snake, (''[[Anomochilus leonardi|Anomochilus&nbsp;leonardi]]'')|| |- |[[Atractaspididae]]<br><small>[[Albert C. L. G. Günther|Günther]], 1858</small>||Mole vipers||Western purple-glossed snake (''[[Amblyodipsas unicolor|Amblyodipsas&nbsp;unicolor]]'')|| [[Image:Atractaspis-bibronii-2.jpg|100px]] |- |[[Boidae]]<br><small>[[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1825</small>||Boas||Amazon tree boa (''[[Corallus hortulanus|Corallus&nbsp;hortulanus]]'')||[[Image:Corallushortulanus.GIF|100px]] |- |[[Bolyeridae]]<br><small>[[Robert Hoffstetter|Hoffstetter]], 1946</small>||Round island boas||Round Island burrowing boa (''[[Bolyeria multocarinata|Bolyeria&nbsp;multocarinata]]'')|| |- |[[Colubridae]]<br><small>[[Nicolaus Michael Oppel|Oppel]], 1811</small>||Colubrids||Grass snake (''[[Natrix natrix|Natrix&nbsp;natrix]]'')||[[Image:Natrix natrix (Marek Szczepanek).jpg|100px]] |- |[[Cylindrophiidae]]<br><small>[[Leopold Fitzinger|Fitzinger]], 1843</small>||Asian pipe snakes||Red-tailed pipe snake (''[[Cylindrophis ruffus|Cylindrophis&nbsp;ruffus]]'')|| |- |[[Elapidae]]<br><small>[[Friedrich Boie|Boie]], 1827</small>||Cobras, coral snakes, mambas, kraits, sea snakes, sea kraits, Australian elapids||King cobra (''[[Ophiophagus hannah|Ophiophagus&nbsp;hannah]]'')||[[Image:Ophiophagus_hannah2.jpg|100px]] |- |[[Loxocemidae]]<br><small>[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1861</small>||Mexican burrowing snakes||Mexican burrowing snake (''[[Loxocemus bicolor|Loxocemus&nbsp;bicolor]]'')||[[Image:Loxocemus_bicolor.jpg|100px]] |- |[[Pythonidae]]<br><small>[[Leopold Fitzinger|Fitzinger]], 1826</small>||Pythons||Indian python (''[[Python molurus|Python&nbsp;molurus]]'')||[[Image:Python molure 13.JPG|100px]] |- |[[Tropidophiidae]]<br><small>[[L.D. Brongersma|Brongersma]], 1951</small>||Dwarf boas||Dusky dwarf boa (''[[Tropidophis melanurus|Tropidophis&nbsp;melanurus]]'') || |- |[[Uropeltidae]]<br><small>[[Johannes Peter Müller|Müller]], 1832</small>||Shield-tailed snakes, short-tailed snakes||Ocellated shield-tail (''[[Uropeltis ocellatus|Uropeltis&nbsp;ocellatus]]'')|| |- |[[Viperidae]]<br><small>[[Nicolaus Michael Oppel|Oppel]], 1811</small>||Vipers, pitvipers, rattlesnakes||European asp (''[[Vipera aspis|Vipera&nbsp;aspis]]'')||[[Image:Vipera-aspis-aspis-1.jpg|100px]] |- |[[Xenopeltidae]]<br><small>[[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1845</small>||Sunbeam snakes||Sunbeam snake (''[[Xenopeltis unicolor|Xenopeltis&nbsp;unicolor]]'')|| |- |colspan="100%" align="center" {{bgcolor-blue}}|'''[[Scolecophidia]]''' 3 families |- !Family!!Common Names!!Example Species!!Example Photo |- |[[Anomalepidae]]<br><small>[[Edward Harrison Taylor|Taylor]], 1939</small>||Dawn blind snakes||Dawn blind snake (''[[Liotyphlops beui|Liotyphlops&nbsp;beui]]'')|| |- |[[Leptotyphlopidae]]<br><small>[[Leonhard Hess Stejneger|Stejneger]], 1892</small>||Slender blind snakes||Texas blind snake (''[[Leptotyphlops dulcis|Leptotyphlops&nbsp;dulcis]]'')||[[Image:Leptotyphlops_dulcis.jpg|100px]] |- |[[Typhlopidae]]<br><small>[[Blasius Merrem|Merrem]], 1820</small>||Blind snakes||Black blind snake (''[[Typhlops reticulatus|Typhlops&nbsp;reticulatus]]'')|| |- |} ==See also== * [[List of snakes]] -- Overview of all snake families and genera. * [[List of Lacertilia families]], lizards. * [[List of Anuran families]], frogs. ==References== * {{ITIS|ID=174118|taxon=Serpentes|year=2007|date=4 August}} * [http://www.reptile-database.org/db-info/taxa.html#Ser Suborder Ophidia (Serpentes) - Snakes (phylogeny)] at [http://www.reptile-database.org/ New Reptile Database]. Accessed [[4 August]] [[2007]]. {{Snake families}} [[Category:Snakes| ]]