List of Serpentes families
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iSnakes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
|
This is a list of the extant Serpentes families. Serpentes is the suborder of reptiles commonly known as snakes.
[edit] Taxonomy
There are two infraorders of living snakes: Alethinophidia (with the superfamilies: Henophidia and Xenophidia) and Scolecophidia (with the superfamily Typhlopoidea). This separation is based on primarily on morphological characteristics between family groups, but more recently, mitochondrial DNA.
Henophidia are often referred to as the "primitive" snakes, they show evidence of vestigial limbs and a pelvic girdle. Xenophidia are the most numerous and diverse group.
As with most taxonomic classifications, there are many different interpretations of the evolutionary relationships. These include moving of familes 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, as with Elapidae and Hydrophiidae, due to their extremely close relation.
| Henophidia 10 families | |||
| Family | Common Names | Example Species | Example Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aniliidae Stejneger, 1907 | coral pipe snakes | Burrowing False Coral (Anilius scytale) | |
| Anomochilidae Cundall, Wallach and Rossman, 1993 | dwarf pipe snakes | Leonard's Pipe Snake, (Anomochilus leonardi) | |
| Boidae Gray, 1825 | boas | Amazon tree boa (Corallus hortulanus) | 
|
| Bolyeridae Hoffstetter, 1946 | round island boas | Round Island Burrowing Boa (Bolyeria multocarinata) | |
| Cylindrophiidae Fitzinger, 1843 | Asian pipe snakes | Red-tailed Pipe Snake (Cylindrophis ruffus) | |
| Loxocemidae Cope, 1861 | Mexican burrowing snakes | Mexican burrowing snake (Loxocemus bicolor) | Image:Loxocemus bicolor.jpg |
| Pythonidae Fitzinger, 1826 | pythons | Ball python (Python regius) | Image:Python Regius Pastel.jpg |
| Tropidophiidae Brongersma, 1951 | dwarf boas | Northern Eyelash Boa (Trachyboa boulengeri) | |
| Uropeltidae Müller, 1832 | shield-tailed snakes, short-tailed snakes | Ocellated Shield-tail (Uropeltis ocellatus) | |
| Xenopeltidae Bonaparte, 1845 | sunbeam snakes | Sunbeam snake (Xenopeltis unicolor) | |
| Typhlopoidea 3 families | |||
| Family | Common Names | Example Species | Example Photo |
| Anomalepidae Taylor, 1939 | dawn blind snakes | Dawn Blind Snake (Liotyphlops beui) | 
|
| Leptotyphlopidae Stejneger, 1892 | slender blind snakes | Texas Blind Snake (Leptotyphlops dulcis) | Image:Leptotyphlops dulcis.jpg |
| Typhlopidae Merrem, 1820 | blind snakes | Black Blind Snake (Typhlops reticulatus) | 
|
| Xenophidia 6 families | |||
| Family | Common Names | Example Species | Example Photo |
| Acrochordidae Bonaparte, 1831 | file snakes | Marine File Snake (Acrochordus granulatus) | 
|
| Atractaspididae Günther, 1858 | mole vipers | Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis bibroni) | |
| Colubridae Oppel, 1811 | colubrids | Grass Snake (Natrix natrix) | Image:Natrix natrix (Marek Szczepanek).jpg |
| Elapidae Boie, 1827 | cobras, coral snakes, kraits | King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) | Image:Ophiophagus hannah2.jpg |
| Hydrophiidae Smith, 1926 | sea snakes | Yellow-bellied Sea Snake (Pelamis platurus) | |
| Viperidae Oppel, 1811 | vipers and pit vipers | Canebrake Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) | Image:Crotalus horridus atricaudatus.jpg |
[edit] See also
- List of Lacertilia families, lizards
- List of Anuran families, frogs
