Erycidae Bonaparte 1831

Pyron, R. Alexander, Reynolds, R. Graham & Burbrink, Frank T., 2014, A Taxonomic Revision of Boas (Serpentes: Boidae), Zootaxa 3846 (2), pp. 249-260 : 255

Family Erycidae Bonaparte 1831

Type genus. Eryx Daudin 1803

Genus content. Eryx

Diagnosis. Erycids can be distinguished from all other similar or related taxa by the following combination of characters: transverse process of the premaxilla long, internarial septum of the premaxilla absent, vomerine process of the premaxilla long and narrow, anterior one-third to one-half of the ventral lamina of the nasal decreases anteriorly or is absent, anterior end of the horizontal lamina of the nasal expands slightly to markedly viewed dorsally, anterolateral edge of the horizontal lamina of the nasal bulges outward viewed dorsolaterally, lateroposterior margin of the horizontal lamina of the nasal adjacent to the prefrontal oriented vertically as a large wall, dorsal lappet of the prefrontal approximately straight on the dorsolateral margin contacting the frontal and nasal, anterolateral and medial laminae of the prefrontal form a gradually rounded corner, frontonasal facet where ventral lamina of the nasal contacts the frontal lies between and below the olfactory canal with long horizontalventral portion, facet present on the preorbital process of the frontal, anterolateral corner of the frontal projects anteriorly and partially exposes the preorbital process, floor of the optic foramen formed by the parietal, postorbital process of the parietal large, midsaggital crest markedly developed on the anterior portion of the parietal, choanal process of the palatine tiny and discontinuous, maxillary process of the palatine narrow, medioventral margin of the posterior third of the pterygoid folded into deep groove, parasphenoid shallow anteriorly deepening posteriorly with groove absent anteriorly and present posteriorly, interparietal area of the parasphenoid of modest width with parallel sides, anteriorly projecting process present on the neural spine, distal tip of the posterior diapophysis of caudal vertebrae oriented nearly vertically into a thin and occasionally convoluted blade, distal tip of anterior diapophysis of caudal vertebrae elaborated into a horizontal blade originating from centrum, transverse process of caudal vertebrae forms a large and rounded anteroposteriorly oriented blade, caudal haemopophysis flattened terminally and curved towards opposite-side counterpart but widely separated therefrom, first infralabial scale small and separated from counterpart by one or more scales, dorsal head scales small and usually asymmetrically arranged, and 34 diploid chromosomes (see Kluge 1993).

Phylogenetic definition. Includes the MRCA of the included Eryx species and all descendants thereof, and all species more closely related to E. jaculus than to Boa constrictor .

Etymology. Named, apparently without special significance, after a son of Aphrodite, king of the mountain city Eryx in Sicily, who was defeated by Heracles in a boxing match.

Distribution. Southeastern Europe, northern Africa, Middle East, and southwestern Asia.

Remarks. This taxon has been recognized as a distinct family in the past, as well as by some current authors (see Wallach et al. 2014).