The Booidea, also known as booid snakes, are a superfamily of

snake 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 j ...

s that contains boas (family

Boidae The Boidae, commonly known as boas or boids, are a family of nonvenomous snakes primarily found in the Americas, as well as Africa, Europe, Asia, and some Pacific Islands. Boas include some of the world's largest snakes, with the green anacond ...

) and other closely related boa-like snakes (but not

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

s, which are in a separate superfamily called Pythonoidea). As of 2017, Booidea contains 61 species, including the eponymous neotropical ''

Boa constrictor The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also called the red-tailed boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the family B ...

'', anacondas (genus '' Eunectes''), and smaller tree and rainbow boas ('' Corallus'', '' Epicrates'', and ''

Chilabothrus ''Chilabothrus'', commonly known as the Greater Antillean boas or West Indian boas, is a genus of nonvenomous snakes the family Boidae. The genus is endemic to the West Indies. 12 or 14 species are recognized as being valid. Distribution Speci ...

'') as well as several genera of booid snakes from various locations around the world: bevel-nosed boas or keel-scaled boas ('' Candoia'') from New Guinea and Melanesia, Old World sand boas ('' Eryx'') from Northeast Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, rubber boas (''

Charina ''Charina'' is a genus of nonvenomous boas, commonly known as rubber boas, found in North America. Two species are currently recognized''.'' Distribution and habitat Found in North America from western Canada south through the western United St ...

'') and rosy boas ('' Lichanura'') from North America, neotropical dwarf boas ('' Ungaliophis'') and the Oaxacan dwarf boa ('' Exiliboa'') from Central America, Madagascan boas or Malagasy boas ('' Acrantophis'' and '' Sanzinia'') from Madagascar, and the

Calabar python :''Common names: Calabar ground boa, burrowing boa, Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . Calabar boa, more.'' The Calabar python (''Calabaria reinhardtii'') is a species of non-ven ...

(''Calabaria'') from tropical West-Central Africa. Many snake biologists choose to recognize at least ''Calabaria'' as a member of a separate family (Calabariidae). 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 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 well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, or subfamily) is arbitrary. The clade name Booidea emphasizes the relatively close evolutionary relationship among these 61 species, which last shared a common ancestor about 68 I:49–73million years ago, in contrast to the more distant relationship between booids and their next closest relatives, pythonoids and uropeltoids (the most recent common ancestor between booids and these other snakes lived ~79 I:65–93million years ago).

References

Alethinophidia {{Alethinophidia-stub