The Booidea, also known as booid snakes, are a superfamily of
snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
s that contains boas (family
Boidae) and other closely related boa-like snakes (but not
pythons, which are in a separate superfamily called Pythonoidea). As of 2017, Booidea contains 61 species, including the eponymous neotropical ''
Boa constrictor
The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also called the red-tailed boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the family ...
'', anacondas (genus ''
Eunectes''), and smaller tree and rainbow boas (''
Corallus
''Corallus'', the neotropical tree boas, are a genus of Boidae, boas found in Central America, South America and the West Indies. Nine extant species are recognized .
Description
All members of this genus are long, slightly flattened laterally a ...
'', ''
Epicrates Epicrates may refer to:
* Epicrates of Ambracia, an ancient Greek and Middle Comedy playwright
* Epicrates of Athens, an ancient Athenian involved in political affairs
* Epicrates (snake)
''Epicrates'' is a genus of non-venomous snakes in the sub ...
'', and ''
Chilabothrus'') as well as several genera of booid snakes from various locations around the world: bevel-nosed boas or keel-scaled boas (''
Candoia'') from New Guinea and Melanesia, Old World sand boas (''
Eryx'') from Northeast Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, rubber boas (''
Charina'') and rosy boas (''
Lichanura'') from North America, neotropical dwarf boas (''
Ungaliophis
:''Common names: bromeliad boas, banana boas, neotropical dwarf boas.''
''Ungaliophis'' is a genus of dwarf boas found from southern Mexico to Colombia. Currently, two species are recognized.
Geographic range
Found from the Pacific coastal plai ...
'') and the Oaxacan dwarf boa (''
Exiliboa'') from Central America, Madagascan boas or Malagasy boas (''
Acrantophis'' and ''
Sanzinia'') from Madagascar, and the
Calabar python (''Calabaria'') from tropical West-Central Africa.
Many snake biologists choose to recognize at least ''Calabaria'' as a member of a separate family (Calabariidae). The taxonomy of boas, pythons, and other henophidian snakes has long been debated, and ultimately the decision whether to assign a particular clade to a particular
Linnaean rank (such as a
superfamily,
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
, or
subfamily) is arbitrary. The clade name Booidea emphasizes the relatively close evolutionary relationship among these 61 species, which last shared a common ancestor about 68
I:49–73million years ago, in contrast to the more distant relationship between booids and their next closest relatives,
pythonoids and
uropeltoids (the most recent common ancestor between booids and these other snakes lived ~79
I:65–93million years ago).
References
Alethinophidia
{{Alethinophidia-stub