The Lamprophiidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

snakes Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joi ...

found throughout much of Africa, including the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

. There are 89 species as of July 2022.

Biology

Lamprophiids are a very diverse group of snakes. Many are terrestrial but some are fossorial (e.g. ''

Amblyodipsas ''Amblyodipsas'' is a genus of snakes found in Africa. Currently, 9 species are recognized.. These snakes are often known as purple-glossed snakes or glossy snakes. Although rear-fanged, all species are considered harmless, but their venom has no ...

'') or semi-aquatic (e.g. ''

Lycodonomorphus ''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania. Species The following nine species are recognized as being ...

''). Some are fast-moving (e.g. ''

Psammophis ''Psammophis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Psammophiidae. The genus comprises 33 species, which are found in Africa and Asia.. www.reptile-database.org. ''Psammophis'' are diurnal and prey on lizards and rodents which they actively hunt. ...

'') whereas others are slow (e.g. ''

Duberria Duberria is a genus of snakes of the family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the ...

''). They are found in deserts, grasslands, tropical forests and mountains. Together they feed on mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. Some species use constriction to subdue their prey (e.g. ''

Boaedon ''Boaedon'' is a genus of African lamprophiids consisting of the "brown" house snakes. The genus was originally described by Duméril but the species contained were reclassified as Lamprophis by Fitzinger in 1843, this taxonomy remained widely ...

''). 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 Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

Classification

Most lamprophiids were historically considered to be members of the

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 ...

Lamprophiinae in the family

Colubridae 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 ...

. 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

elapids Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids ; grc, ἔλλοψ ''éllops'' "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydocep ...

has been repeated by several other studies. Together these two groups are sometimes referred to as the

Elapoidea The Elapoidea are a Superfamily (biology), superfamily of snakes in the clade Colubroides, traditionally comprising the families Lamprophiidae and Elapidae. Advanced genomic sequence studies, however, have found lamprophiids to be paraphyletic in ...

. In fact, some studies have found that

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids ; grc, ἔλλοψ ''éllops'' "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydoceph ...

is nested within Lamprophiidae, a finding that necessitated taxonomic changes to restore

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic grou ...

within the 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 Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, southern Europe, and most of Asia. They are now known to be found in only Africa.

List of subfamilies and genera

* Lamprophiidae ** '' Alopecion'' Duméril, 1853 - spotted house snake ** ''

'' A.M.C. Duméril,

Bibron Gabriel Bibron (20 October 1805 – 27 March 1848) was a French zoologist and herpetologist. He was born in Paris. The son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hir ...

& A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 ** '' Bofa'' Tiutenko, Koch, Pabijan, & Zinenko, 2022- Ethiopian house snake ** '' Bothrolycus'' Günther, 1874 ** ''

Bothrophthalmus The red-black striped snake (''Bothrophthalmus lineatus'') is the monotypical member of the genus ''Bothrophthalmus.'' This snake is found in the Sub-Saharan African countries of Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola and Guinea. It is a harmless snake ...

'' W. Peters, 1863 ** '' Chamaelycus'' Boulenger, 1919 ** ''

Dendrolycus The Cameroon rainforest snake (''Dendrolycus elapoides'') is a species of snake. It is monotypical of the genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as ...

'' Laurent, 1956 ** ''

Gonionotophis ''Gonionotophis'' is a genus of snakes, known Common name, commonly as African ground snakes and file snakes, in the Family (biology), family Lamprophiidae. The genus is Endemism, endemic to Central Africa. Species There are three recognized spe ...

'' Boulenger, 1893 ** '' Gracililima'' Broadley, Tolley, Conradie, Wishart, Trape, Burger, Kusamba, Zassi-Boulou & Greenbaum, 2018 ** ''

Hormonotus ''Hormonotus'' is a genus of snakes. At present, this genus is monotypic, as there is only one commonly accepted species in it, ''Hormonotus modestus'', commonly known as the Uganda house snake or yellow forest snake. It is widespread in tropica ...

'' Hallowell, 1857 ** ''

Inyoka ''Inyoka'' is a monotypic genus of southern African snakes. The word "inyoka" means "snake" in Zulu, Xhosa, Swahili, Shona and other African languages. These snakes were previously grouped in the genus ''Lamprophis'' but were found to be ...

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

Branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

, Broadley, Barker & Villet, 2011 ** ''

Lamprophis ''Lamprophis'' is a genus of medium-sized, nonvenomous snakes commonly referred to as African house snakes, in the family Lamprophiidae. Description Species of ''Lamprophis'' exhibit a wide variety of pattern variation, and may be spotted, strip ...

'' Fitzinger, 1843 ** '' Limaformosa'' Broadley, Tolley, Conradie, Wishart, Trape, Burger, Kusamba, Zassi-Boulou, & Greenbaum, 2018 ** ''

'' Fitzinger, 1843 ** ''

Lycophidion ''Lycophidion'' is a genus of nonvenomous lamprophiid snakes commonly referred to as the wolf snakes. there are 23 recognized species in the genus. Description and behavior Wolf snakes are small snakes which forage at night for sleeping lizard ...

'' Fitzinger, 1843 ** ''

Mehelya ''Mehelya'' is a genus name of colubrid snakes from Africa. Some species formerly assigned to the genus ''Mehelya'' are now found in the genera '' Gonionotophis'', '' Gracililima'', or '' Limaformosa''. They are collectively called file snakes ...

'' Csíki, 1903 ** ''

Montaspis The cream-spotted mountain snake (''Montaspis gilvomaculata'') is a snake in the family Lamprophiidae . It is found in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country ...

'' Bourquin, 1991 ** ''

Pseudoboodon ''Pseudoboodon'' is a genus of snakes in the family Lamprophiidae. The genus is endemic to Africa.. Species Five species are recognized as being valid. *'' Pseudoboodon abyssinicus'' Mocquard, 1906 - Abyssinian house snake *'' Pseudoboodon boe ...

'' Peracca, 1897

Former subfamilies

These taxa were formerly classified in the Lamprophiidae, but are now either classified as families of their own or subfamilies in other taxa. * Subfamily Atractaspidinae (now Atractaspididae) * Subfamily Cyclocorinae (now Cyclocoridae) * Subfamily Prosymninae (now Prosymnidae) * Subfamily Psammophiinae (now

Psammophiidae Psammophiidae is a family of elapoid snakes. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family. Genera It contains 8 genera: * '' Dipsina'' Jan, 1862 * ''Hemirhagerrhis'' ...

) * Subfamily

Pseudaspidinae Pseudaspididae is a small family (biology), family of Elapoidea, elapoid snakes. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family. They have a disjunct distribution; two ...

(now Pseudaspididae) * Subfamily

Pseudoxyrhophiinae The Pseudoxyrhophiidae is a Family (biology), family of Elapoidea, elapoid Lamprophiidae, snakes, found mostly in Madagascar. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct fami ...

(now

Pseudoxyrhophiidae The Pseudoxyrhophiidae is a family of elapoid snakes, found mostly in Madagascar. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family. It contains about 22 genera in two s ...

) * Genus '' Buhoma'' (now ''

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' within

)

In captivity

Some members of the Lamprophiidae, such as the African house snake (genus ''

'') are kept and bred as pets by herpetoculturists worldwide. 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.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q146687 Lamprophiidae, Reptile families Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger