Английская Википедия:Colubridae

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Automatic taxobox

Colubridae (Шаблон:IPAc-en, commonly known as colubrids Шаблон:IPAc-en, from Шаблон:Lang-la, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera,[1] it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected.[2] Colubrid snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica.[3]

Description

A primarily shy and harmless group of snakes, the vast majority of colubrids are not venomous, nor do most colubrids produce venom that is medically significant to mammals. However, the bites of a few groups (such as Boiga sp.) can escalate quickly to emergency situations. Furthermore, within the Colubridae, the South African boomslang and twig snakes, as well as the Asian keelback snakes (Rhabdophis sp.) have long been notorious for inflicting the worst bites on humans, with the most confirmed fatalities.[3][4][5]

Some colubrids are described as opisthoglyphous (often simply called "rear-fanged"), meaning they possess shortened, grooved "fangs" located at the back of the upper jaw. It is thought that opisthoglyphy evolved many times throughout the natural history of squamates[4] and is an evolutionary precursor to the larger, frontal fangs of vipers and elapids.[6][7][8][3][4]

Classification

In the past, the Colubridae were not a natural group, as many were more closely related to other groups, such as elapids, than to each other.[9] This family was historically used as a "wastebasket taxon"[5] for snakes that do not fit elsewhere.[10] Until recently, colubrids were basically colubroids that were not elapids, viperids, or Atractaspis.[11]

However, recent research in molecular phylogenetics has stabilized the classification of historically "colubrid" snakes and the family as currently defined is a monophyletic clade,[12][13][14][15] although additional research will be necessary to sort out all the relationships within this group. As of May 2018, eight subfamilies are recognized.[16]

Current subfamilies

Sibynophiinae – three genera Шаблон:Columns-list

Natricinae – 36 genera (sometimes given as family Natricidae)

Файл:Indian Rat Snake (Grey and Yellow).jpg
Two Indian rat snakes (grey and yellow)
Файл:Coast Garter Snake.jpg
A natricine, Thamnophis sirtalis

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Pseudoxenodontinae – two genera Шаблон:Columns-list

Dipsadinae – over 100 genera (sometimes given as family Dipsadidae)

Файл:Sibon longifrenis (La Selva Biological Station).jpg
A dipsadine, Sibon longifrenis

Шаблон:Columns-list

Grayiinae – one genus

Calamariinae – seven genera Шаблон:Columns-list

Ahaetuliinae – five genera Шаблон:Columns-list

Colubrinae – 93 genera

Файл:PikiWiki Israel 37648 Nature and Colors.jpg
A colubrine, Dolichophis jugularis, preying on a legless lizard, a sheltopusik

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Sub-family currently undetermined

Former subfamilies

These taxa have been at one time or another classified as part of the Colubridae, but are now either classified as parts of other families, or are no longer accepted because all the species within them have been moved to other (sub)families.

Fossil record

The oldest colubrid fossils are indeterminate vertebrae from Thailand and specimens of the genus Nebraskophis from the U.S. state of Georgia, both from the Late Eocene. The presence of derived colubrids in North America so early on, despite their presumed Old World origins, suggests that they originated even earlier.[2] The Pliocene (Blancan) fossil record in the Ringold Formation of Adams County, Washington has yielded fossils from a number of colubrids including Elaphe pliocenica, Elaphe vulpina, Lampropeltis getulus, Pituophis catenifer, a Thamnophis species, and the extinct genus Tauntonophis.[20]

References

Citations

Шаблон:Reflist

Bibliography

External links

Шаблон:Snake families Шаблон:Taxonbar Шаблон:Authority control