Boaedon
Encyclopedia
Boaedon is a genus
of African Colubrids consisting of the African House Snakes. The genus was originally described by Duméril
but the species contained were reclassified as Lamprophis
by Fitzinger in 1843, this taxonomy remained true until November 2010 when a study was published by Kelly, C.M.R et al. placing them back in the Boaedon clade. . Although commonly regarded as belonging to the Colubridae, primary literature usually lists them, and related species, as belonging to the family Lamprophiidae within the superfamily which includes the venomous cobra
s and mamba
s, Elapoidea (e.g. )
Overall body colouration is typically sandy brown to black but green, orange, red and a variety of other locale specific variations do exist. All species are nocturnal by nature and present with vertically elliptic pupils, they also present with a v-shaped set of stripes stretching from the rostral scale through the eye to the rear of the head. Some specimens have very pale stripes and in others they are not present at all. Body pattern varies between species, B. olivaceus, B. mentalis & B. fuliginosus are all naturally pattern less, B. capensis & B. maculatus both have patternless variants and B. lineatus typically has lateral striping running the length of the body.
These are highly variable snakes and confusion is common when attempting to distinguish them from one another.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of African Colubrids consisting of the African House Snakes. The genus was originally described by Duméril
André Marie Constant Duméril
André Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
but the species contained were reclassified as Lamprophis
Lamprophis
Lamprophis is a genus of colubrid snakes commonly referred to as African house snakes. They are small, non-venomous snakes. They exhibit a wide variety of pattern variation, and may be spotted, striped, or solid colored...
by Fitzinger in 1843, this taxonomy remained true until November 2010 when a study was published by Kelly, C.M.R et al. placing them back in the Boaedon clade. . Although commonly regarded as belonging to the Colubridae, primary literature usually lists them, and related species, as belonging to the family Lamprophiidae within the superfamily which includes the venomous cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
s and mamba
Mamba
Mambas, of the genus Dendroaspis , are a group of highly venomous, fast-moving land-dwelling snakes of Africa. They belong to the family of Elapidae which includes cobras, coral snakes, taipans, brown snakes, tiger snakes, death adders, kraits and, debatably, sea snakes...
s, Elapoidea (e.g. )
Species
- Brown House Snake, Boaedon fuliginosus (BoieFriedrich BoieFriedrich Boie was a German scientist and brother of Heinrich Boie. He was born at Meldorf in Holstein and died at Kiel....
, 1827) - Namibian House Snake, Boaedon mentalis (GüntherAlbert C. L. G. GüntherAlbert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist....
, 1888) - Cape House Snake, Boaedon capensisBoaedon capensisThe Cape House Snake is a Species of Colubrid from South Africa, its range stretches from KwaZulu-Natal all the way through to the Western Cape...
(DumérilAndré Marie Constant DumérilAndré Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
& BibronGabriel BibronGabriel Bibron was a French zoologist. He was born in Paris. Son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hired to collect vertebrates in Italy and Sicily. He classified a number of reptile species with André Marie Constant...
, 1854) - Dotted House Snake, Boaedon maculatus (ParkerHampton Wildman ParkerHampton Wildman Parker was an English zoologist.Parker was Keeper of Zoology at the Natural History Museum from 1947 to 1957. He is the author of a works on snakes and frogs: Parker discovered the Vesey-Fitzgerald's Burrowing Skink on the Seychelles which he named after entomologist Leslie Desmond...
, 1932) - Hallowell's House Snake, Boaedon virgatus (Hallowell, 1854)
- Olive House Snake, Boaedon olivaceus (DumérilAndré Marie Constant DumérilAndré Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
, 1854) - Striped House Snake, Boaedon lineatusBoaedon lineatusThe Striped House Snake is a species of colubrid from Africa. This species has a wide range stretching from Tanzania through Central Africa as far as Uganda. They are kept as pets with increasing regularity, they are often captured and exported for the pet trade...
(DumérilAndré Marie Constant DumérilAndré Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
& BibronGabriel BibronGabriel Bibron was a French zoologist. He was born in Paris. Son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hired to collect vertebrates in Italy and Sicily. He classified a number of reptile species with André Marie Constant...
, 1854)
Archetypal Appearance
All members of the genus Boaedon are small Colubrids, generally attaining lengths of little more than 4 feet (120cm) in length. Sexually dimorphic, females are always larger than males who attain lengths of approx. 2 feet (60cm) there is some variance between species and between geographic locales of species.These are highly variable snakes and confusion is common when attempting to distinguish them from one another.