Order Squamata
Suborder Serpentes (Ophidia)
Infraorder Henophidia (Boidea)
Family Boidae
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Appearance:
Relatively large, stout snakes.
Distribution: Most
boines occur in the Neotropics although some species occur
on Madagascar and in the southwest Pacific. Pythons occur in
Africa, Australia and Asia whereas Sand boas inhabit sandy
or rocky deserts from East Africa through India including
southern Europe (Lichanura is an exception,
see above).
Habitat: Boas and
pythons inhabit a wide range of habitats from deserts to
rain forests and even occur in the temperate coniferous
forests of the Northwestern United States
(Lichanura = Charina).
Size: This family
includes the giants among the snakes although some boids may
remain quite small (e.g. Eryx, Exiliboa,
Charina are less than 1 m). Anacondas
(Eunectes) and one python species
(Python reticulatus) may reach 10 meters.
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Morelia viridis. © Peter Uetz.
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Food: Mainly mammals, Birds
and other vertebrates.
Behaviour: Some boids (e.g.
Corallus) and many pythons have temperature-sensitive
pits in their upper or lower labial scales which are used to detect
their warm-blooded prey.
Reproduction: Whereas boas and
sand boas are viviparous, pythons usually lay eggs (up to a 100 in
some large species). In fact, many pythons build nests or lay their
eggs in burrows. Females of these species even incubate their eggs by
coiling around the clutches and generating heat by muscular
contractions.
Note: The pythons are often
considered as a separate family (Pythonidae).
List of genera:
Subfamily Boinae (Boas)
The genera
Exiliboa and
Ungaliophis
are considered by some authors (e.g. Pough et al. 1998) as
boid, but they are included here in a separate family, Tropidophiidae.
Kluge (1991, 1993) synonymized
Acrantophis and
Sanzinia
with Boa.
Subfamily Erycinae (Sand
Boas)
Kluge (1993) synonymized Calabaria and
Lichanura with Charina. Eryx and
Gongylophis are synonymized by some authors.
Subfamily Pythoninae
(Pythons)
Click
on genus to get a list of species. Use
the Search form for more sophisticated searches (HELP on Search).
Phylogeny of Boids (excluding pythons) according to
Burbrink (2004)
Bayesian inference phylogeny of the Boinae using combined data
obtained from morphological data published in Kluge (1991, 1993) and
sequences from the cytochrome b gene (Burbrink 2004).
However, Noonan & Chippindale (2006) obtained contradictory data when analyzing molecular data (compare to traditional subfamilial classification above):
References:
Bonny, Klaus (2007)
Die Gattung Boa. [an exhaustive treatise on the genus Boa]
KUS-Verlag, 262 pp.
Burbrink, Frank T. (2004)
Inferring the phylogenetic position of Boa constrictor among the
Boinae.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34: 167-180 (2005,
but published online 2004)
Dirksen, Lutz, and Wolfgang Böhme (2005)
Studies on anacondas III. A reappraisal of Eunectes beniensis Dirksen, 2002, from Bolivia, and a key to the species of the genus Eunectes Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes: Boidae).
Russian Journal of Herpetology 12 (3): 223-229.
Henderson-R-W 1993
Reptilia: Squamata: Serpentes: Boidae. Corallus Daudin.
Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 572 1993: 1-2
Kirschner, A. & Seufer, H. (1999)
Der
Königspython. [Python
regius]
Kirschner und Seufer Verlag, Keltern-Weiler, 102 pp.
Kivit, R. & Wiseman, S. (2000)
The
Green Tree Python & Emerald Tree Boa [Morelia
viridis and Corallus caninus].
Kirschner und Seufer Verlag, Keltern-Weiler, 126 pp. (German
edition published in 2005).
Kluge, Arnold G. (1991)
Boine snake phylogeny and research cycles.
Miscellaneous publications, Museum of Zoology, University of
Michigan (178): 1-58
Kluge, Arnold G. (1993)
Calabaria and the phylogeny of erycine snakes.
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 107: 293-351
Kluge, Arnold G. (1993)
Aspidites and the phylogeny of Pythonine snakes.
Records of the Australian Museum (Supplement 19): 1-77
McDiarmid,R.W.; Campbell,J.A. & Touré,T.A.
(1999)
Snake species of the world. Vol. 1.
Herpetologists' League, 511 pp.
Mense, M. (2006)
Rautenpythons - Morelia bredli, Morelia carinata und der
Morelia-spilota-komplex.
Natur und Tier Verlag (NTV), Münster, 207 pp.
Noonan, Brice P. and Paul T. Chippindale (2006)
Dispersal and vicariance: The complex evolutionary history of boid snakes.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 450 (2): 347-358
Stimson,A.F. (1969)
Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien: Boidae
Das Tierreich Lfg. 89, XI + 49 pp
Walter de Gruyter, Berlin
Underwood, Garth & Stimson,A.F. (1990)
A classification of pythons (Serpentes, Pythoninae).
Journal of Zoology, London 221: 565-603
Welch,K.R.G. (1994)
Snakes
of the World - A Checklist. 2. Boas, Pythons, Shield-tails and Worm
Snakes.
R & A Research and Information Ltd and KCM Books.
Online Information:
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This page is maintained by Peter Uetz (see e-mail address on Home
page)
Created: 10 Feb 1996 / Last changed or updated 7 May
2008