''Boaedon'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n lamprophiids consisting of the "brown" house snakes. The genus was originally described by Duméril but the species contained were reclassified as Lamprophis by Fitzinger in 1843, this taxonomy remained widely accepted until November 2010 when a phylogenetic study was published by C.M.R Kelly et al. who resurrected the ''Boaedon'' clade.Kelly, C.M.R., et al. Molecular systematics of the African snake family ''Lamprophiidae'', Fitzinger, 1843 (''Serpentes'': ''Elapoidea''), with particular focus on the genera ''Lamprophis'', Fitzinger 1843 and ''Mehelya'', Csiki 1903. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. (2010), Although commonly regarded as belonging to the

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ev ...

, primary literature usually lists them, and related species, as belonging to the family

Lamprophiidae The Lamprophiidae are a family of snakes found throughout much of Africa, including the Seychelles. There are 89 species as of July 2022. Biology Lamprophiids are a very diverse group of snakes. Many are terrestrial but some are fossorial (e.g. ...

within the superfamily which includes the venomous cobras and

mamba Mambas are fast moving highly venomous snakes of the genus ''Dendroaspis'' (which literally means "tree asp") in the family Elapidae. Four extant species are recognised currently; three of those four species are essentially arboreal and green i ...

Elapoidea The Elapoidea are a superfamily of snakes in the clade Colubroides, traditionally comprising the families Lamprophiidae and Elapidae. Advanced genomic sequence studies, however, have found lamprophiids to be paraphyletic in respect to elapids. I ...

Species

There are currently 21 species in ''Boaedon'', however new species are frequently being described: *Angolan house snake, '' Boaedon angolensis''

Bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ''Bocage'' may ...

, 1895 *'' Boaedon bedriagae'' *Bocage’s brown house snake, '' Boaedon bocagei'' *Branch’s brown house snake, '' Boaedon branchi'' *Cape house snake, ''

Boaedon capensis ''Boaedon capensis'', the Cape house snake, also known as the brown house snake, is a species of lamprophiid from Botswana, South Africa (from KwaZulu-Natal all the way through to the Western Cape), Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are a ...

'' Duméril & Bibron, 1854 *Frade’s brown house snake, '' Boaedon fradei'' *Brown house snake, '' Boaedon fuliginosus'' ( Boie, 1827) *Seychelles house snake, '' Boaedon geometricus'' ( Schlegel, 1837) *Striped house snake, '' Boaedon lineatus'' Duméril & Bibron, 1854 *Coastal house snake, '' Boaedon littoralis'' Trape & Mediannikov, 2016 *Long-lined house snake, '' Boaedon longilineatus'' Trape & Mediannikov, 2016 *Dotted house snake, '' Boaedon maculatus'' (

Parker Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States *Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado *Parker, Florida *Parker, Idaho *Parker, Kansas *Parker, Missouri *Parker, North Carolina *Parker, Pe ...

, 1932) *'' Boaedon mendesi'' *Namibian house snake, '' Boaedon mentalis'' ( Günther, 1888) * Olive house snake, ''

Boaedon olivaceus ''Boaedon olivaceus'' is a species of snake in the family Lamprophiidae. The species is endemic to Africa. Taxonomic history Eli Greenbaum and colleagues described the taxonomy of this species as being "relatively stable for over a century". Aug ...

'' ( Duméril, 1856) *Central African lined house snake, ''

Boaedon paralineatus ''Boaedon'' is a genus of African lamprophiids consisting of the "brown" house snakes. The genus was originally described by Duméril but the species contained were reclassified as Lamprophis by Fitzinger in 1843, this taxonomy remained widely ...

'' Trape & Mediannikov, 2016 *'' Boaedon perisilvestris'' Trape & Mediannikov, 2016 *Radford's house snake, '' Boaedon radfordi'' Greenbaum, Portillo, Jackson, & Kusamba, 2015 *Yellow house snake, ''

Boaedon subflavus ''Boaedon'' is a genus of African lamprophiids consisting of the "brown" house snakes. The genus was originally described by Duméril but the species contained were reclassified as Lamprophis by Fitzinger in 1843, this taxonomy remained widely ...

'' Trape & Mediannikov, 2016 *'' Boaedon upembae'' ( Laurent, 1954) *'' Boaedon variegatus''

, 1867 *Hallowell's house snake, '' Boaedon virgatus'' ( Hallowell, 1854)

Appearance

All members of the genus ''Boaedon'' are small snakes, generally attaining lengths of little more than 4 feet (120 cm) in length. Sexually dimorphic, females are always larger than males who attain lengths of approx. 2 feet (60 cm) there is some variance between species and between geographic locales of species. kizzie

Overall body colouration is typically sandy brown to black but green, orange, red and a variety of other locale specific variations do exist. All species are nocturnal by nature and present with vertically elliptic pupils, they also present with few exceptions a v-shaped set of stripes stretching from the rostral scale through the eye to the rear of the head. Body pattern varies between species, '' B. olivaceus'', ''B. upembae'', ''B. mentalis'', & ''B. fuliginosus'' are all naturally pattern less, ''B. capensis'' and ''B. maculatus'' both have patternless variants and ''B. lineatus'' typically has lateral striping running the length of the body. These are highly variable snakes and confusion is common when attempting to distinguish them from one another.

Geographic range

House snakes occur in all of sub-Saharan Africa, inhabiting dense forests and deserts as well as all other habitats in between. They are commonly found around towns where they will feast on the rodents which gather there.

External links

House Snake Forums

House Snake Captive care Guide

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2907511 Snakes of Africa Snake genera Lamprophiidae Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron Taxa named by Auguste Duméril