Higher Taxa in Extant Reptiles

The higher taxonomy of reptiles is currently being revised. Check occasionally for changes (after multiple sources including those listed under references).

Subclass Anapsida

Order Testudines - Turtles (phylogeny1, phylogeny2)

Suborder Cryptodira

• Family Chelydridae (Snapping Turtles)

Superfamily Testudinoidea

• Family Emydidae (Pond Turtles/Box and Water Turtles)
• Family Testudinidae (Tortoises)
• Family Geoemydidae (Bataguridae) (Asian River Turtles, Leaf and Roofed Turtles, Asian Box Turtles)

Superfamily Trionychoidea

• Family Carettochelyidae (Pignose Turtles)
• Family Trionychidae (Softshell Turtles)

Superfamily Kinosternoidea

• Family Dermatemydidae (River Turtles)
• Family Kinosternidae (Mud and Musk Turtles)

Superfamily Chelonioidea

• Family Cheloniidae (Sea Turtles)
• Family Dermochelyidae (Leatherback Turtles)

Suborder Pleurodira (phylogeny, but see also phylogeny2)

• Family Chelidae (Austro-American Sideneck Turtles)

Superfam. Pelomedusoidea

• Family Pelomedusidae (Afro-American Sideneck Turtles)
• Family Podocnemididae (Madagascan Big-headed and American Sideneck River Turtles)

Subclass Lepidosauria

Order Rhynchocephalia

Suborder Sphenodontida

• Family Sphenodontidae (Tuataras)

Order Squamata (phylogeny of squamata)

Suborder Sauria (Lacertilia) - Lizards

Infraorder Iguania

• Family Agamidae (Agamas), incl. Leiolepididae
• Family Chamaeleonidae (Chameleons)
• Family Iguanidae s.l. ("Iguanas") [Pleurodonta]
  
  • Subfamily Corytophaninae (Casquehead Lizards)
  • Subfamily Crotaphytinae (Collared and Leopard Lizards)
  • Subfamily Hoplocercinae (Wood lizards, Clubtails)
  • Subfamily Iguaninae (Iguanas and Spinytail Iguanas)
  • Subfamily Leiocephalinae (see Tropidurinae)
  • Subfamily Leiosaurinae (see Polychrotinae)
  • Subfamily Liolaeminae (see Tropidurinae)
  • Subfamily Oplurinae (Madagascar iguanids)
  • Subfamily Phrynosomatinae (Earless, Spiny, Tree, Side-blotched and Horned Lizards)
  • Subfamily Polychrotinae (Anoles)
  • Subfamily Tropidurinae (Neotropical Ground Lizards)

Infraorder Gekkota (revised!)

• Family Gekkonidae (Geckoes)
• Family Carphodactylidae
• Family Diplodactylidae
• Family Eublepharidae
• Family Phyllodactylidae
• Family Sphaerodactylidae
• Family Pygopodidae (Legless Lizards)

Infraorder Scincomorpha (note 1)

• Family Cordylidae (Spinytail Lizards)
• Family Gerrhosauridae (Plated Lizards)
• Family Gymnophthalmidae (Spectacled Lizards)
• Family Teiidae (Whiptails and Tegus)
• Family Lacertidae (Lacertids, Wall Lizards)
• Family Scincidae (Skinks)
• Family Xantusiidae (Night Lizards)

Infraorder Diploglossa (note 1)

• Family Anguidae (Glass Lizards and Alligator Lizards; Lateral Fold Lizards)
• Family Anniellidae (American Legless lizards)
• Family Xenosauridae (Knob-scaled Lizards)

Infraorder Dibamia (new!)

• Family Dibamidae (Blind Lizards)

Infraorder Platynota (Varanoidea) (note 1)

• Family Helodermatidae (Gila Monsters)
• Family Lanthanotidae (Earless Monitor lizards)
• Family Varanidae (Monitor Lizards)

Suborder Amphisbaenia (revised!)

• Family Amphisbaenidae (Worm Lizards)
• Family Bipedidae (Two-legged Worm Lizards)
• Family Blanidae (see Amphisbaenidae)
• Family Cadeidae (see Amphisbaenidae)
• Family Rhineuridae (see Amphisbaenidae)
• Family Trogonophidae (Shorthead Worm Lizards)

Suborder Ophidia (Serpentes) - Snakes (phylogeny) (Note 2)

Superfamily Acrochordoidea

• Family Acrochordidae Bonaparte 1831(File Snakes)

Superfamily Uropeltoidea s.l. (Pipe snakes and Sunbeam snakes)

• Family Anomochilidae (Dwarf Pipe Snakes)
• Family Cylindrophiidae (Asian Pipe Snakes)
• Family Uropeltidae (Shield-tail Snakes)

Superfamily Pythonoidea s.l. (Pythons and relatives)

• Family Loxocemidae (Mexican Burrowing Pythons)
• Family Pythonidae (Pythons)
• Family Xenopeltidae (Sunbeam Snakes)

Superfamily Booidea (revised!)

• Family Boidae (Boas)
• Subfamily Boinae (Boas)
• Subfamily Ungaliophiinae (Dwarf Boas)
• Subfamily Erycinae

Superfamily Colubroidea (revised!)

• Family Colubridae (Colubrids)
  • Subfamily Colubrinae ("Colubridae")
  • Subfamily Grayiinae
  • Subfamily Calamarinae
• Family Dipsadidae Bonaparte 1840
  • Subfamily Dipsadinae Bonaparte 1840
  • Subfamily Heterodontinae Bonaparte 1845
  • Subfamily Xenodontinae Bonaparte 1845
• Family Natricidae Bonaparte 1840
• Family Pseudoxenodontidae McDowell 1987

Superfamily Elapoidea (tentative) (revised!)

• Family Elapidae Boie 1827
  • Subfamily Elapinae Boie 1827 (Cobras, Coral Snakes, etc.)
  • Subfamily Hydrophiinae Fitzinger 1843 (Sea Snakes)

• Family Lamprophiidae Fitzinger 1843
  • Subfamily Atractaspidinae Günther 1858 (Mole Vipers)
  • Subfamily Lamprophiinae Fitzinger 1843
  • Subfamily Psammophiinae Bonaparte 1845
  • Subfamily Pseudoxyrhophiinae Dowling 1975

Superfamily Homalopsoidea (new!)

• Family Homalopsidae Bonaparte 1845

Superfamily Pareatoidea Romer 1956 (new!)

• Family Pareatidae Romer 1956

Superfamily Typhlopoidea (Scolecophidia)

• Family Anomalepididae (Dawn Blind Snakes)
• Family Typhlopidae (Blind Snakes)
• Family Leptotyphlopidae/Glauconiidae (Slender Blind Snakes)

Superfamily Viperoidea

• Family Viperidae Oppel 1811 (Vipers and Pit Vipers)
  • Subfamily Azemiopinae Liem, Marx and Rabb 1971
  • Subfamily Causinae Cope 1860
  • Subfamily Crotalinae Oppel 1811
  • Subfamily Viperinae Oppel 1811

Superfamily Xenodermatoidea (new!)

• Family Xenodermatidae Gray 1849

Currently not assigned to any Superfamily:

• Family Aniliidae/Ilysiidae (Pipe Snakes)
• Family Bolyeriidae (Round Island Boas)
• Family Tropidophiidae (Dwarf Boas)

Subclass Archosauria

Order Crocodylia - Crocodiles etc.

Suborder Eusuchia

• Family Crocodylidae (Crocodylians)

References:

Overall taxonomy originally after

Zug,G.R.; Vitt, L.J. & Caldwell, J.P. (2001)
Herpetology, 2nd ed.
Academic Press San Diego, London, [...]XIV + 630 pp.

Turtles mainly after

Fujita, M.K.; Tag N. Engstrom, David E. Starkey and H. Bradley Shaffer (2004)
Turtle phylogeny: insights from a novel nuclear intron.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3): 1031-1040

For a more recent analysis see

Krenz, James G.; Gavin J.P. Naylor; H. Bradley Shaffer and Fredric J. Janzen (2005) Molecular phylogenetics and evolution of turtles.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 37 (1):178-191

Squamata after multiple sources including

Gamble, T.; A. M. Bauer, e. Greenbaum & T. R. Jackman (2008)
Out of the blue: a novel, trans-Atlantic clade of geckos (Gekkota, Squamata). Zoologica Scripta 37 (4): 355–366

Harris, D. J., Marshall, J.C. & Crandall, K.A. (2001)
Squamate relationships based on C-mos nuclear DNA sequences: increased taxon sampling improves bootstrap support.
Amphibia-Reptilia 22 (2): 235-242

Kumazawa, Y. (2007)
Mitochondrial genomes from major lizard families suggest their phylogenetic relationships and ancient radiations.
Gene 388: 19-26

Townsend, T. M., A. Larson, E. Louis, J. R. Macey. 2004. Molecular phylogentics of Squamata: The position of snakes, amphisbaenians, and dibamids, and the root of the squamate tree. Systematic Biology, 53(5):1-23.

Vidal, Nicolas and S. Blair Hedges (2005)
The phylogeny of squamate reptiles (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians) inferred from nine nuclear protein-coding genes.
Comptes Rendus Biologies 328 (10-11): 1000-1008

Douglas et al. (2006) found that snakes formed a sister clade to amphisbaenians which is rejected by Vidal et al. (2005).

Douglas, D.A.; Janke, A. & Arnason, U. (2006)
A mitogenomic study on the phylogenetic position of snakes.
Zoologica Scripta, 35: 545–558

Iguania after

Frost, D.R.; Etheridge, R.; Janies, D. & Titus, T.A. (2001)
Total evidence, sequence alignment, evolution of Polychrotid lizards, and a reclassification of the Iguania (Squamata: Iguania).
American Museum Novitates 3343: 38 pp.

 

 

Snakes mainly after

Lee, Michael S. Y.; Andrew F. Hugall, Robin Lawson & John D. Scanlon (2007)
Phylogeny of snakes (Serpentes): combining morphological and molecular data in likelihood, Bayesian and parsimony analyses.
Systematics and Biodiversity 5 (4): 371–389

Vidal, N., Delmas, A.S., David, P., Cruaud, C., Couloux, A., Hedges, S.B. (2007). The phylogeny and classification of caenophidian snakes inferred from seven nuclear protein-coding genes. Comptes Rendus Biologies 330: 182-187

Vidal et al. (2007) The higher-level relationships of alethinophidian snakes inferred from seven nuclear and mitochondrial genes. In: Henderson, R.W., Powell, R., (eds). Biology of the Boas and Pythons, Eagle Mountain Publ., Eagle Montain, Utah. Pp. 27-33.

Note 1: Scincomorpha, Diploglossa, Platynota are not monophyletic groups. According to Harris et al. the Cordylidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, and Xantusiidae form a clade whereas the Lacertidae and Teiidae from independent clades. Vidal & Hedges (2009) recognize Diploglossidae as a family.

Vidal, N. & Hedges, S.B. (2008) The molecular evolutionary tree of lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians. Comptes Rendus Biologies, doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2008.07.010

However, a morphological analysis of the vaginal-cloacal region still yields a different topology, e.g. with the Dibamidae, Xantusiidae, and Amphisbaenia forming one branch:

Sánchez-Martínez, Paola María; Martha Patricia Ramírez-Pinilla and Daniel Rafael Miranda-Esquivel (2007)
Comparative histology of the vaginal–cloacal region in Squamata and its phylogenetic implications.
Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 88: 289–307

Note 2: Vidal et al. (2005, 2007) and other authors suggested various conflicting trees of different topology. While some trees revealed some interesting relationships, such as the Anguidae forming a clade with the Helodermatidae and Varanidae (forming the Anguimorpha), they often lacked certain families (such as the Anniellidae, Xenosauridae etc.).

For further taxonomic references on higher taxa see family pages or follow links to phylogeny pages.