Pareidae
Iwasaki's snail-eater (Pareas iwasakii)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Clade: Colubroides
Family: Pareidae
Romer, 1956
Genera[1]

Pareidae is a small family of snakes found largely in southeast Asia, with an isolated subfamily endemic to southwestern India. It encompasses 42 species in four genera divided into two subfamilies: Pareinae and Xylophiinae. Both families are thought to have diverged from one another during the early-mid Eocene, about 40-50 million years ago.[1][2][3]

Pareidae was once considered a subfamily of Colubridae (called "Pareatinae"), but since 2013 it is known that pareids are not closely related to colubrids.[4] The correct spelling is Pareidae, not Pareatidae.[5]

Members of the subfamily Pareinae are active, predatory snakes. Many are snail-eating snakes that have asymmetrical lower jaws, allowing them to pry the soft bodies of snails from their spiral shells. One species, Pareas iwasakii, has an average of 17.5 teeth in its left mandible and 25 teeth in its right mandible.[6] Predation by pareids on dextral (clockwise-coiled or "right handed") snails is thought to favor the evolution of sinistral (counter-clockwise or "left handed") snails in southeast Asia, where 12% of snail species are sinistral (as opposed to 5% worldwide).

The Xylophiinae have a very different lifestyle, being primarily ground-dwelling, burrowing snakes, unlike the more arboreal nature of their northern cousins.[3]

Genera and species

References

  1. 1 2 Pareidae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 25 April 2017.
  2. ↑ Deepak, V.; Ruane, Sara; Gower, David J. (2018) "A new subfamily of fossorial colubroid snakes from the Western Ghats of peninsular India". Journal of Natural History 52: 45-46, 2919-2934. doi:10.1080/00222933.2018.1557756
  3. 1 2 Davis, Josh (2019). "An array of new snakes from India have been described". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  4. ↑ Pyron, R.A.; Burbrink, F.; Wiens, J.J. (2013). "A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13: 93. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-93. PMC 3682911. PMID 23627680.
  5. ↑ Savage, J.M. (2015). "What are the correct family names for the taxa that include the snake genera Xenodermus, Pareas, and Calamaria?". Herpetological Review. 46: 664–665.
  6. ↑ Hoso, Masaki; Asami, Takahiro; Hori, Michio (2007). "Right-handed snakes: convergent evolution of asymmetry for functional specialization". Biology Letters. 3 (2): 169–172. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0600. PMC 2375934. PMID 17307721.
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