Boidae
| Boidae Temporal range: Late Cretaceous to Present
| |
|---|---|
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| Boa constrictor (Boa constrictor) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Superfamily: | Booidea |
| Family: | Boidae Gray, 1825[1][2] |
| Subfamilies | |
|
Boinae | |
The Boidae, commonly known as boas or boids,[3] are a family of nonvenomous snakes primarily found in the Americas, as well as Africa, Europe, Asia, and some Pacific islands. Boas include some of the world's largest snakes, with the green anaconda of South America being the heaviest and second-longest snake known; in general, adults are medium to large in size, with females usually larger than the males. Six subfamilies comprising 15 genera and 54 species are currently recognized.[3]
Description
Like the
Boids are, however, distinguished from the pythons in that none has postfrontal bones or premaxillary teeth, and that they give birth to live young. When labial pits are present, these are located between the scales as opposed to on them. Also, their geographical distributions are almost entirely mutually exclusive. In the few areas where they do coexist, the tendency is for them to occupy different habitats.[4]
Formerly, boas were said to be found in the
Distribution and habitat
Most species are found in North, Central, and South America, as well as the
Feeding
Prey is killed by constriction; after an animal has been grasped to restrain it, a number of coils are hastily wrapped around it. Then, by applying and maintaining sufficient pressure, the snake prevents its prey from inhaling, so that it eventually succumbs to asphyxiation. Recently, the pressures produced during constriction have been suggested as the cause of cardiac arrest by interfering with blood flow, but this hypothesis has not yet been confirmed.
Larger specimens usually eat animals about the size of a
Contrary to popular belief, even the larger species do not crush their prey to death; in fact, prey is not even noticeably deformed before it is swallowed. The speed with which the coils are applied is impressive and the force they exert may be significant, but death is caused by suffocation, with the victim not being able to move its ribs to breathe while it is being constricted.[6][7][8]
Reproduction
Most species of boa are ovoviviparous, with females giving birth to live young. This is in contrast to the pythons, which lay eggs (oviparous).
Subfamilies
| Subfamily[3] | Taxon author[3] | Genera[3] | Species[3] | Common name | Geographic range[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boinae | Gray, 1825[1] | 5 | 34 | true boas | Central and South America and the West Indies |
| Calabariinae[a] | Gray, 1858 | 1 | 1 | Calabar python | tropical West and Central Africa |
| Candoiinae[b] | Pyron, Burbink & Wiens, 2013 | 1 | 5 | bevel-nosed boas or keel-scaled boas | from Sulawesi through the Maluku Islands, New Guinea and Melanesia to Samoa and Tokelau |
| Erycinae | Bonaparte, 1831 | 3 | 18 | Old World sand boas | Southern and Southeastern Europe, Arabia, Central and Southwest Asia, India, Sri Lanka , western Canada, the western United States, and northwestern Mexico
|
| Sanziniinae | Romer, 1956 | 2 | 4 | Madagascan boas or Malagasy boas | Madagascar |
| Ungaliophiinae | McDowell, 1987 | 2 | 3 | neotropical dwarf boas | Central and South America from southern Mexico to Colombia |
Type genus = Boa – Gray, 1825[2]
Taxonomy
Pythons were historically classified as a subfamily of Boidae (called Pythoninae), but it was later determined that they are not closely related to boas despite having superficial similarities.[9]
Almost all of the
) is arbitrary.The subfamily Ungaliophiinae was formerly made up of four genera. Two of them (Tropidophis and Trachyboa) are actually more closely related to the American pipe snake (Anilius scytale) than to the boas, and are now placed in the family Tropidophiidae within the superfamily Amerophidia. The other two genera (Ungaliophis and Exiliboa) are the sister group of the Charina/Lichanura clade within Boidae.[9][10]
Gallery
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Chilabothrus type species; the Puerto Rican boa (C. inornatus) -
Corallus type species; the Amazon tree boa (C. hortulana) -
Epicrates type species; the rainbow boa (E. cenchria) -
Eunectes type species; the green anaconda(E. murinus) -
Candoia type species; the Pacific ground boa (C. carinata) -
Calabaria type species; the Calabar python (C. reinhardtii) -
Charina type species; the northern rubber boa (C. bottae) -
Eryx type species; the javelin sand boa (E. jaculus) -
Lichanura type species; the desert rosy boa (L. trivirgata) -
Acrantophis type species; Dumeril's boa (A. dumerili) -
Sanzinia type species; the Madagascar tree boa (S. madagascariensis)
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See also
References
- ^ a b Gray, John Edward (1825). "A Synopsis of the Genera of Reptiles and Amphibia, with a Description of some new Species". Annals of Philosophy. 10 (3): 209–210.
- ^ ISBN 1-893777-01-4(volume).
- ^ a b c d e f "Boidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
- ^ ISBN 0-8014-9164-9(paper).
- ^ Boidae Archived 2008-05-18 at the Wayback Machine at VMNH. Accessed 15 July 2008.
- ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.[page needed]
- ISBN 0-448-11856-4.
- LCCN 63012781.[page needed]
- ^ PMID 24315866. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
- (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
- Kluge, A.G. 1991. Boine Snake Phylogeny and Research Cycles. Misc. Pub. Museum of Zoology, Univ. of Michigan No. 178. PDF at University of Michigan Library. Accessed 8 July 2008.
External links
Media related to Boidae at Wikimedia Commons
