The Calamariinae are a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

colubrid Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...

snakes, commonly known as reed snakes, that are found in southern and southeastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. They are most diverse in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, especially

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. The subfamily contains 90 species in seven

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

. Very few specimens of most species have been collected. The genus ''

Calamaria ''Calamaria'' is a large genus of dwarf burrowing snakes of the family Colubridae. The genus contains 66 recognized species. The genus is endemic to Asia. Description Species in the genus ''Calamaria'' share the following characteristics. The e ...

'' has far more species (60) than all other genera in the subfamily combined, and its geographic range is more extensive than the combined ranges of the other genera. Consequently, more is known about it than about the other genera, although Calamariinae is still among the most poorly known groups of snakes in the world, especially for its relatively high species diversity. Calamariine snakes are small, burrowing, forest-dwelling snakes that eat worms. Very few species of colubrid snakes have as few dorsal scale rows (13) as ''

'', and none have more extensive fusion of the head scales. Most species have laterally compressed, flask-shaped maxillary teeth.

Genera

*''

'' (63 species) *''

Calamorhabdium ''Calamorhabdium'' is a small genus of snakes, commonly known as iridescent snakes, in the family Colubridae. The genus contains two described species. Both species are burrowing snakes found in Asia. Species *'' Calamorhabdium acuticeps'' � ...

'' (2 species) *'' Collorhabdium'' (1 species) *'' Etheridgeum'' (1 species) *'' Macrocalamus'' (8 species) *'' Pseudorabdion'' (15 species) *'' Rabdion'' (2 species)

References

Colubrids Tetrapod subfamilies {{Colubrids-stub