Taxonomy of Snakes

The taxonomy of snakes can be seen in the diagram below the page. As you can observe, all snakes belong to the kingdom: Animalia; Grade= Metazoan (multicellular animals); phylum= Chordate; subphylum= Vertebrate; class= Reptilia; subclass= Lepidosauria; order= Squamata; suborder= Serpentes (or Ophidia). The suborder Serpentes further divides into four large families= Elapidae (elapids), Viperidae (viperids), Colubridae (colubrids), and Boidae (boas/constrictors).

The family Elapidae, in turn, comprises more than 30 genera, which include the mambas of Africa, the cobras of Southeast Asia, and the corals of America. On the other hand, there are more than six genera in the family Viperidae, of which the Bothrops and the Crotalus are the most important because they include a large number of venomous species, like the lancehead of South and Central America and the rattlesnakes, which are found throughout the American continent. Meanwhile, the Boidae family includes the boas, the anacondas of South America, and the pythons.

This is only a summary, since the taxonomy of snakes concerning families, genus, species, and subspecies is very complex as many herpetologists/serpentologists disagree with one another as to which taxonomical group a particular type of snake belongs to. Besides, it involves traveling to other countries and continents to study them and spending a lot of time and money.

Below, a diagram of the taxonomy of snakes


Posted in  on February 14, 2024 by Dr. Carl Wayne |