Colubridae, Oppell, 1811

Branch, William R., 2018, When roads appear jaguars decline: Increased access to an Amazonian wilderness area reduces potential for jaguar conservation, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 159) 12 (2), pp. 41-82 : 47

Family: Colubridae

Relationships within the African colubrid radiation remain unresolved. Based on cranial features Bourgeois (1968) recognized a subfamily Boiginae that included the genera Boiga (restricted now to Asia as the two African species were transferred to Toxicodryas ), Telescopus , Crotaphopeltis , and Dipsadoboa . Subsequent molecular data ( Gravlund 2001; Kelly et al. 2003; Figuerao et al. 2016) also support the inclusion of Dasypeltis within the Boiginae . Bourgeois (1968) erected two other subfamilies: the Dispholidinae including diverse tree snakes of the genera Thrasops , Rhamnophis , Dispholidus , Thelotornis and Xyelodontophis (the latter now synonymized with Thelotornis, Eimermacher 2012 ); and the Philothamninae, including the genera Philothamnus and Hapsidophrys . The latter has not been supported by molecular data although Figuerao et al. (2016) found these genera were sister to Bourgeois Dispholidinae. Broadley and Wallach (2002) recognized Bourgeios subfamily as the tribe Dispholidini , and the diverse colubrids treated as subfamilies by Bourgeois (1968) are perhaps best treated as tribes (Boigini, Dispholidini ) within the Colubridae . Relatively few African colubrids have been included in phylogenies, usually with only single species representatives of the diverse genera, and fuller resolution of their relationships await fuller taxon sampling.