View source for Boaedon

{{Short description|Genus of snakes}}
{{italic title}}{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Boaedon
| image = lineatus2.jpg
| image_caption = Striped house snake, ''Boaedon lineatus''.
| taxon = Boaedon
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| authority = [[André Marie Constant Duméril|A.M.C. Duméril]], [[Gabriel Bibron|Bibron]], & [[Auguste Duméril|Duméril]], 1854
| subdivision = 22 recognized species, see text.
}}
'''''Boaedon''''' is a [[genus]] of [[Africa]]n [[lamprophiids]] consisting of the "brown" house snakes. The genus was originally described by [[André Marie Constant Duméril|Duméril]] but the species contained were reclassified as [[Lamprophis]] by [[Leopold Fitzinger|Fitzinger]] in 1843, this taxonomy remained widely accepted until November 2010 when a phylogenetic study was published by [[Christopher M.R. Kelly|C.M.R Kelly]] et al. who resurrected the ''Boaedon'' clade.<ref name="kelly">Kelly, C.M.R., et al. Molecular systematics of the African snake family ''Lamprophiidae'', Fitzinger, 1843 (''Serpentes'': ''Elapoidea''), with particular focus on the genera ''Lamprophis'', Fitzinger 1843 and ''Mehelya'', Csiki 1903. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. (2010), {{doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.010}}</ref> 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 [[Elapoidea]], which includes the venomous [[cobra]]s and [[mamba]]s.<ref name="kelly"/>
== Species ==
There are currently 22 species placed within the genus ''Boaedon'', with new and updated ones occasionally being described.
*Angolan house snake, ''Boaedon angolensis'' [[José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage|<small>Bocage</small>]]<small>, 1895</small>
*''Boaedon bedriagae'' {{Small|Boulenger, 1905}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Ceríaco|first1=Luis MP|last2=Arellano|first2=Ana Lisette|last3=Jadin|first3=Robert C.|last4=Marques|first4=Mariana P.|last5=Parrinha|first5=Diogo|last6=Hallermann|first6=Jakob|date=2021-01-15|title=Taxonomic revision of the Jita snakes (Lamprophiidae: Boaedon) from São Tomé and Príncipe (Gulf of Guinea), with the description of a new species|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2020.1832152|journal=African Journal of Herpetology|volume=70|issue=1 |pages=1–31|doi=10.1080/21564574.2020.1832152|bibcode=2021AfJH...70....1C |s2cid=234262958|issn=2156-4574}}</ref>
*Bocage’s brown house snake, ''Boaedon bocagei'' {{Small|Hallermann, Ceríaco, Schmitz, Ernst, Conradie, Verburgt, Marques, & Bauer, 2020}}
*Branch’s brown house snake, ''Boaedon branchi'' {{Small|Hallermann, Ceríaco, Schmitz, Ernst, Conradie, Verburgt, Marques, & Bauer, 2020}}
*Cape house snake, ''[[Boaedon capensis]]'' <small>[[André Marie Constant Duméril|Duméril]] & [[Gabriel Bibron|Bibron]], 1854</small>
*Frade’s brown house snake, ''Boaedon fradei'' {{Small|Hallermann, Ceríaco, Schmitz, Ernst, Conradie, Verburgt, Marques, & Bauer, 2020}}
*Brown house snake, ''[[Boaedon fuliginosus]]'' <small>[[Friedrich Boie|Boie]], 1827</small>
*Seychelles house snake, ''[[Boaedon geometricus]]'' <small>[[Hermann Schlegel|Schlegel]], 1837</small>
*Striped house snake, ''[[Boaedon lineatus]]'' <small>[[André Marie Constant Duméril|Duméril]] & [[Gabriel Bibron|Bibron]], 1854</small>
*Coastal house snake, ''Boaedon littoralis'' <small>Trape & Mediannikov, 2016</small>
*Long-lined house snake, ''Boaedon longilineatus'' <small>Trape & Mediannikov, 2016</small>
*Dotted house snake, ''Boaedon maculatus'' <small>[[Hampton Wildman Parker|Parker]], 1932</small>
*''Boaedon mendesi'' {{Small|Ceríaco, Arellano, Jadin, Marques, Parrinha & Hallermann, 2021}}<ref name=":0" />
*Namibian house snake, ''Boaedon mentalis'' <small>([[Albert C. L. G. Günther|Günther]], 1888)</small>
*''Boaedon montanus'' <small>Trape, Mediannikov, Hinkel, & Hinkel, 2022</small>
* Olive house snake, ''[[Boaedon olivaceus]]'' <small>([[Auguste Duméril|Duméril]], 1856)</small>
*Central African lined house snake, ''Boaedon paralineatus'' <small>Trape & Mediannikov, 2016</small>
*''Boaedon perisilvestris'' <small>Trape & Mediannikov, 2016</small>
*Radford's house snake, ''Boaedon radfordi'' <small>Greenbaum, Portillo, Jackson, & Kusamba, 2015</small>
*Yellow house snake, ''Boaedon subflavus'' <small>Trape & Mediannikov, 2016</small>
*''Boaedon upembae'' <small>([[Raymond Ferdinand Laurent|Laurent]], 1954)</small>
*''Boaedon variegatus'' <small>[[José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage|Bocage]], 1867</small>
*Hallowell's house snake, ''Boaedon virgatus'' <small>([[Edward Hallowell (herpetologist)|Hallowell]], 1854)</small>
== Appearance ==
All members of the genus ''Boaedon'' are small snakes, generally attaining lengths of little more than 4 feet (120 cm) in length.  Sexually dimorphic, females are always larger than males who attain lengths of approx. 2 feet (60 cm) there is some variance between species and between geographic locales of species.
[[File:kizzie.jpg|thumb|Adult female "patternless" ''Boaedon capensis'']]
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 few exceptions a v-shaped set of stripes stretching from the rostral scale through the eye to the rear of the head. Body pattern varies between species, ''[[Boaedon olivaceus|B. olivaceus]]'', ''B. upembae'', ''B. mentalis'', & ''B. fuliginosus'' are all naturally pattern less, ''B. capensis'' and ''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.
== Geographic range ==
House snakes occur in all of sub-Saharan Africa, inhabiting dense forests and deserts as well as all other habitats in between.  They are commonly found around towns where they will feast on the rodents which gather there.
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Boaedon}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080908021055/http://lamprophis.proboards62.com/ House Snake Forums]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150412220011/http://erikpaterson.co.uk/house-snakes House Snake Captive care Guide]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2907511}}
[[Category:Snakes of Africa]]
[[Category:Snake genera]]
[[Category:Lamprophiidae]]
[[Category:Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Auguste Duméril]]