The Sanziniinae are a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of boid

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

containing four species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the island of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. Common names include Madagascar boas and Malagasy boas.

Taxonomy

This subfamily contains two

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, each one with two

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

: *'' Acrantophis'' - Jan, 1860 :: '' Acrantophis dumerili'', Duméril's boa :: '' Acrantophis madagascariensis'', Madagascar ground boa or Malagasy ground boa *'' Sanzinia'' -

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

, 1849 :: '' Sanzinia madagascariensis'', Madagascar tree boa or Malagasy tree boa :: ''Sanzinia volontany'', Nosy Komba ground boa''

References

* Romer, A.S.: ''Osteology of the Reptiles''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1956.

Taxonomy

References

Further reading