| Snakes | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Clade: | Ophidia |
| Suborder: | Serpentes Linnaeus, 1758 |
This is an overview of the suborder Serpentes, its two infraorders (subdivisions) and the families they contain. This is the group of reptiles commonly known as snakes.
There are two infraorders of living snakes: Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia. This separation is based primarily on morphological characteristics between family groups; however, more recently, the comparison of mitochondrial DNA has played its part.
As with most taxonomic classifications, there are many different interpretations of the evolutionary relationships. This had resulted in families being moved to different infraorders, the merging or splitting of infraorders and families. For instance, many sources classify Boidae and Pythonidae as the same family, or keep others, such as Elapidae and Hydrophiidae, separate for practical reasons despite their extremely close relationship.
| Alethinophidia 15 families | |||
| Family | Common names | Example Species | Example Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acrochordidae Bonaparte, 1831 | File snakes | Arafura file snake ( Acrochordus arafurae ) |  |
| Aniliidae Stejneger, 1907 | Coral pipe snakes | False coral snake ( Anilius scytale ) |  |
| Anomochilidae Cundall, Wallach and Rossman, 1993 | Dwarf pipe snakes | Leonard's pipe snake, ( Anomochilus leonardi ) | |
| Atractaspididae Günther, 1858 | Mole vipers | Western purple-glossed snake ( Amblyodipsas unicolor ) |  |
| Boidae Gray, 1825 | Boas | Amazon tree boa ( Corallus hortulanus ) |  |
| Bolyeridae Hoffstetter, 1946 | Round island boas | Round Island burrowing boa ( Bolyeria multocarinata ) | |
| Colubridae Oppel, 1811 | Colubrids | Grass snake ( Natrix natrix ) |  |
| Cylindrophiidae Fitzinger, 1843 | Asian pipe snakes | Red-tailed pipe snake ( Cylindrophis ruffus ) |  |
| Elapidae Boie, 1827 | Cobras, coral snakes, mambas, kraits, sea snakes, sea kraits, Australian elapids | King cobra ( Ophiophagus hannah ) |  |
| Loxocemidae Cope, 1861 | Mexican burrowing snakes | Mexican burrowing snake ( Loxocemus bicolor ) |  |
| Pythonidae Fitzinger, 1826 | Pythons | Indian python ( Python molurus ) |  |
| Tropidophiidae Brongersma, 1951 | Dwarf boas | Dusky dwarf boa ( Tropidophis melanurus ) | |
| Uropeltidae Müller, 1832 | Shield-tailed snakes, short-tailed snakes | Ocellated shield-tail ( Uropeltis ocellatus ) | |
| Viperidae Oppel, 1811 | Vipers, pitvipers, rattlesnakes | European asp ( Vipera aspis ) |  |
| Xenopeltidae Bonaparte, 1845 | Sunbeam snakes | Sunbeam snake ( Xenopeltis unicolor ) | |
| Scolecophidia 3 families | |||
| Family | Common names | Example Species | Example Photo |
| Anomalepidae Taylor, 1939 | Dawn blind snakes | Dawn blind snake ( Liotyphlops beui ) | |
| Leptotyphlopidae Stejneger, 1892 | Slender blind snakes | Texas blind snake ( Leptotyphlops dulcis ) |  |
| Typhlopidae Merrem, 1820 | Blind snakes | Black blind snake ( Typhlops reticulatus ) | |