Pseudaspididae is a small

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 ...

of elapoid

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 ...

. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the

Lamprophiidae The Lamprophiidae are a family of snakes found throughout much of Africa, including the Seychelles. 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. ...

, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family. They have a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

; two species (each in their own

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

) are known from

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, while the two '' Psammodynastes'' species inhabit

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Genera

The family contains four species in three

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 ...

. * ''

Pseudaspis The mole snake (''Pseudaspis cana'') is a species of snake. It has been placed in the family Lamprophiidae, and more recently in the family Pseudaspididae, along with the genus ''Pythonodipsas''. It is native to much of southern Africa, and is ...

'' Fitzinger, 1843 ** ''

Pseudaspis cana The mole snake (''Pseudaspis cana'') is a species of snake. It has been placed in the family Lamprophiidae, and more recently in the family Pseudaspididae, along with the genus ''Pythonodipsas''. It is native to much of southern Africa, and is ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (mole snake) * ''

Pythonodipsas The western keeled snake (''Pythonodipsas carinata'') is a species of snake in the family Pseudaspididae. It is native to western Namibia, southwestern Angola, and southwestern Zambia, and is the only member of the genus ''Pythonodipsas''. Ta ...

'' Günther, 1868 ** ''

Pythonodipsas carinata The western keeled snake (''Pythonodipsas carinata'') is a species of snake in the family Pseudaspididae. It is native to western Namibia, southwestern Angola, and southwestern Zambia, and is the monotypic taxon, only member of the genus ''Pytho ...

'' Günther, 1868 (western keeled snake) * '' Psammodynastes'' Günther, 1858 ** '' Psammodynastes pictus'' Günther, 1858 (painted mock viper, spotted mock viper) ** '' Psammodynastes pulverulentus'' (Boie, 1827) (common mock viper)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21229317, from2=Q4784728 Pseudaspididae