Common names: advanced snakes. The Alethinophidia are an infraorder of snakes that includes all snakes other than blind snakes and thread snakes. Snakes have long been grouped into families within Alethinophidia based on their morphology, especially that of their teeth. More modern phylogenetic hypotheses using genetic data support the recognition of 19 extant families (see below), although the taxonomy of alethinophidian 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, or subfamily) is arbitrary.
Etymology
The infraorder name Alethinophidia derives from the two Ancient Greek words (), meaning "truthful, genuine", and (), meaning "snake".
Fossil record
Fossils of alethinophidians were found in Cenomanian (Middle Cretaceous) sites of Wadi Milk Formation in Wadi Abu Hashim, Sudan. Coniophis presents the vertebral morphology similar to modern-day Aniliidae. Two extinct families from the same location, the Anomalophiidae and Russellophiidae, also belong to the Alethinophidia. Krebsophis is the earliest russellophiid. The family Nigerophiidae includes both aquatic Nubianophis from Wadi Abu Hashim and Nigerophis from the Palaeocene of Niger. The genus Eoanilius (belongs to Aniliidae) appeared in the Eocene. It is also existed in Oligocene and early Miocene.
Systematics
Superfamily Amerophidia
Family: Aniliidae Stejneger, 1907—red pipesnake
Family: Tropidophiidae Brongersma, 1951—Caribbean dwarf "boas" or thunder snakes
Superfamily Booidea
Family: Boidae Gray, 1825—boas (see article for comments on former families or subfamilies Calabariidae/inae, Sanziniidae/inae, Charinidae/inae, Erycidae/inae, Candoiidae/inae) Superfamily Pythonoidea Family: Pythonidae Fitzinger, 1826—pythons Family: Loxocemidae Cope, 1861—Mexican burrowing pythons Family: Xenopeltidae Bonaparte, 1845—sunbeam snakes Superfamily Uropeltoidea Family: Uropeltidae Müller, 1832—shield-tailed snakes Family: Cylindrophiidae Fitzinger, 1843—Asian pipe snakes Family: Anomochilidae Cundall, Wallach and Rossman, 1993—dwarf pipe snakes Family: Bolyeriidae Hoffstetter, 1946—Splitjaw snakes Family: Xenophidiidae Wallach & Günther, 1998—Spine-jawed snakes Family: Acrochordidae Bonaparte, 1831—wart or file snakes Family: Xenodermidae Oppel, 1811—odd-scaled snakes Family: Pareidae Oppel, 1811—snail-eating snakes Family: Viperidae Oppel, 1811—vipers (including pit vipers) Subfamily: Azemiopinae Liem, Marx and Rabb, 1971—Fea's viper Subfamily: Crotalinae Oppel, 1811—pitvipers (including rattlesnakes) Subfamily: Viperinae Oppel, 1811—true vipers Family: Homalopsidae Günther, 1864—Asian mudsnakes Superfamily: Elapoidea F. Boie, 1827 (merged with Colubroidea by the Reptile Database) Family: Cyclocoridae Weinell & Brown, 2017—Philippine snakes Family: Micrelapidae Das et al., 2023—two-headed snakes Family: Elapidae F. Boie, 1827—Cobras, coral snakes, mambas, taipans, sea snakes, and others Family: Pseudaspididae Cope, 1893—mole snake, western keeled snake, and mock vipers Family: Prosymnidae Gray, 1849—shovel-snouted snakes Family: Psammophiidae Dowling, 1967—sand snakes and allies Family: Atractaspididae Günther, 1858—African burrowing asps, stiletto snakes, harlequin snakes Family: Pseudoxyrhophiidae Dowling, 1975—Malagasy hognose snakes, brook snakes, and allies Family: Lamprophiidae Fitzinger, 1843—lamprophiids Superfamily: Colubroidea Oppel, 1811 Family: Colubridae Oppel, 1811—colubrids, typical snakes (subfamilies sometimes considered distinct families) Subfamily: Sibynophiinae Dunn, 1928—hinged-teeth snakes Subfamily: Natricinae Bonaparte, 1838—keelbacks Subfamily: Pseudoxenodontinae McDowell, 1987 Subfamily: Dipsadinae Bonaparte, 1838
See also
Scolecophidia, blind snakes, thread snakes. List of snakes, overview of all snake genera.
References
External links
Alethinophidia at Palaeos. Accessed 14 August 2007.