The Lamprophiidae are a family of snakes
Biology
Lamprophiids are a diverse group of snakes. Many are terrestrial but some are
fossorial (e.g.
Amblyodipsas) or
Semiaquatic (e.g.
Lycodonomorphus). Some are fast-moving (e.g.
Psammophis) whereas others are slow (e.g.
Duberria). They are found in deserts, grasslands, tropical forests, and mountains. They feed on
Mammal,
Bird, other
Reptile,
Amphibian,
fish, and
Invertebrate. Some species use
constriction to subdue their prey (e.g.
Boaedon). When other snake families were formerly included within the Lamprophiidae, they were considered even more diverse in biology, although this is now known to not be the case. Most species are
oviparous.
Classification
Most lamprophiids were historically considered to be members of the
subfamily Lamprophiinae in the family
Colubridae. The following classification follows Pyron et al., 2010,
[ Pyron RA, Burbrink FT, Colli GR, Montes de Oca AN, Vitt LJ, Kuczynski CA, Wiens JJ. 2010. The phylogeny of advanced snakes (Colubroidea), with discovery of a new subfamily and comparison of support methods for likelihood trees. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58: 329–342. ] whose finding that lamprophiids are more closely related to
Elapidae has been repeated by several other studies.
Together these two groups are sometimes referred to as the
Elapoidea. In fact, some studies have found that
Elapidae is nested within Lamprophiidae,
a finding that necessitated taxonomic changes to restore
monophyly within
Elapoidea. Following this, multiple subfamilies within Lamprophiidae were reclassified as their own families, reducing the number of species, overall distribution, and diversity in form of Lamprophiidae as previously defined; prior to this revision, members of Lamprophiidae were thought to be even more diverse in form and behavior, and were thought to have a distribution from Africa to
Madagascar, southern
Europe, and most of
Asia. They are now known to be found in Africa and Seychelles.
List of subfamilies and genera
-
Lamprophiidae
-
Alopecion Duméril, 1853 - spotted house snake
-
Boaedon A.M.C. Duméril, Gabriel Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 - brown house snakes
-
Bofa erlangeri Tiutenko, Koch, Pabijan, & Zinenko, 2022- Ethiopian house snake
-
Bothrolycus Günther, 1874 - Günther's black snake
-
Bothrophthalmus W. Peters, 1863 - red-black striped snake
-
Chamaelycus Boulenger, 1919 - banded snakes
-
Dendrolycus Laurent, 1956 - Cameroon rainforest snake
-
Gonionotophis Boulenger, 1893 - African ground snakes & file snakes
-
Gracililima Broadley, Tolley, Conradie, Wishart, Trape, Burger, Kusamba, Zassi-Boulou & Greenbaum, 2018 - Nyassa file snake
-
Hormonotus Hallowell, 1857 - Uganda house snake
-
Inyoka Kelly, Branch, Broadley, Barker & Villet, 2011 - Swazi rock snake
-
Lamprophis Fitzinger, 1843 - African house snakes
-
Limaformosa Broadley, Tolley, Conradie, Wishart, Trape, Burger, Kusamba, Zassi-Boulou, & Greenbaum, 2018 - file snakes
-
Lycodonomorphus Fitzinger, 1843 - African water snakes
-
Lycophidion Fitzinger, 1843 - wolf snakes
-
Mehelya Csíki, 1903 - file snakes
-
Montaspis Ortwin Bourquin, 1991 - cream-spotted mountain snake
-
Pseudoboodon Peracca, 1897 - 'Ethiopian' snakes
Former subfamilies
These taxa were formerly classified in Lamprophiidae, but are now either classified as families of their own or subfamilies of other taxa.
In captivity
Some members of the Lamprophiidae, such as the African house snake (genus
Boaedon) are kept and bred as pets by herpetoculturists. Due to their placid nature, classification as nonvenomous snakes, easy care requirements, and small size, many of the species that are bred in captivity are considered by many to be a perfect pet reptile for novices and experienced reptile keepers alike.
Further reading
-
Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. ([2]). ( Lamprophes, new family, p. 25). (in Latin).
External links
