The Pythonoidea, also known as pythonoid 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 pythons (family

Pythonidae The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Ten genera and 42 species are currently recognized. Distributi ...

) and other closely related python-like snakes (but not boas, which are in a separate superfamily called

Booidea The Booidea, also known as booid snakes, are a superfamily of snakes 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 con ...

). As of 2022, Pythonoidea contains 39 species, including the eponymous genus '' Python'' and 10 other genera of pythons (''

Antaresia ''Antaresia'' is a genus of pythons, nonvenomous snakes in the Family (biology), family Pythonidae. The genus is native to Australasia. The genus is known by the common name Children's pythons, the name of the type species, ''Antaresia childreni ...

'', ''

Apodora ''Apodora papuana'' is a species of python, commonly known as the Papuan python, Irian python or Papuan olive python. It is found in New Guinea. It is the only species in the genus ''Apodora''. No subspecies are currently recognized. Descriptio ...

'', '' Aspidites'', '' Bothrochilus'', '' Leiopython'', ''

Liasis ''Liasis'' is a genus of pythons found in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. Currently, three extant species are recognized and one giant fossil species ''L. dubudingala'', estimated to have been around 10 m (33 ft) in length. Geo ...

'', '' Malayopython'', ''

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

'', '' Nyctophilopthon'' and ''

Simalia ''Simalia'' is a genus of snakes in the Family (biology), family Pythonidae. Taxonomy ''Simalia'' , was considered a taxonomic synonym of *''Liasis'' (a genus of non-venomous pythons found in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia) and *''Morelia ...

''), all in the family Pythonidae, as well as two lesser-known families, Loxocemidae (one species, the Mexican burrowing python, in the genus ''

Loxocemus :''Common names: Mexican python, Mexican burrowing python, Mexican burrowing snake.'' ''Loxocemus bicolor'',the sole member of the monotypic family Loxocemidae, is a species of python-like snake found in Mexico and Central America. No subspecies ...

'') and Xenopeltidae (two species of sunbeam snakes in the genus '' Xenopeltis''). The taxonomy of pythons, boas, 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 SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

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 Pythonoidea emphasizes the relatively close evolutionary relationship among these 43 species, which last shared a common ancestor about 62 I: 46-78million years ago, in contrast to the more distant relationship between pythonoids and their next closest relatives, uropeltoids (the most recent common ancestor between pythonoids and uropeltoids lived ~73 I:59-87million years ago).

References

Alethinophidia {{Alethinophidia-stub