Uropeltoidea | |
---|---|
Uropeltis maculata (Uropeltidae) | |
Cylindrophis rufus (Cylindrophiidae) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Infraorder: | Alethinophidia |
Superfamily: | Uropeltoidea J.P. Müller, 1832 |
Families | |
The Uropeltoidea, also known as uropeltoid snakes, are a superfamily of snakes that contains uropeltids (family Uropeltidae) and Asian pipesnakes (families Cylindrophiidae and Anomochilidae).
As of 2018, Uropeltoidea contains 97 species,[1] including the eponymous shield-tail snakes (genus Uropeltis with 26 species) and their relatives (68 species in six other genera),[2] 14 species of Asian pipesnakes (genus Cylindrophis), and three species of dwarf pipesnakes (genus Anomochilus).[3]
The taxonomy of boas, pythons, and other henophidian 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. The clade name Uropeltoidea emphasizes the relatively close evolutionary relationship among these 71 species, which last shared a common ancestor about 48 [CI:36–60] million years ago, in contrast to the more distant relationship between uropeltoids and their next closest relatives, pythonoids (the most recent common ancestor between uropeltoids and pythonoids lived ~73 [CI:59–87] million years ago).[4]