Eryx is a genus of nonvenomous snakes, commonly known as Old World sand boas, in the subfamily Erycinae of the family Boidae. Species of the genus are found in southeastern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. Thirteen species are recognized as being valid.
Description The genus Eryx has the following characters. The head is not distinct from the neck. The dorsal surface of the head is covered with small scales. The rostral is large. The eyes range from small to very small, and the pupils are vertical. The anterior maxillary teeth and anterior mandibular teeth are longer than the posterior ones. The body is almost cylindrical. The dorsal scales are smooth or keeled. The tail is very short, either not prehensile or only slightly prehensile. The subcaudals are undivided.Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Boidæ .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Genus Eryx, p. 122–123, Figure 7).
Distribution and habitat Species of snakes of the genus Eryx are found in southeastern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia.
Species Nota bene: In the list below, a taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Eryx.
SpeciesTaxon authorSubspecies*Common nameGeographic rangeEryx borriiBeolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Eryx borrii, p. 32).Lanza & Nistri, 20050Borri's sand boaSomaliaEryx colubrinus(Linnaeus, 1758)2Egyptian sand boa, Kenyan sand boaEgypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, SomaliaEryx conicus(Schneider, 1801)0Rough-tailed sand boa, common sand boa Pakistan, Nepal, India, Sri LankaEryx elegans(Gray, 1849)0Central Asian sand boaSouthern Turkmenistan, northern Iran (the Kopet Dag Mountains in the northeast and the Azerbaijan region in the northwest) and AfghanistanEryx jaculus(Linnaeus, 1758)0Javelin sand boaSouthern Italy, Eastern Europe in Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece (including Corfu and the Cyclades). The Caucasus. The Middle East in Syria, Israel, northeastern Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Africa north of the Sahara Desert from Morocco to Egypt.Eryx jayakariBoulenger, 18880Arabian sand boaFrom the east and south of the Arabian Peninsula north to Khūzestān Province in IranEryx johnii(Russell, 1801)0Indian sand boaFrom Iran through Pakistan into northwestern and southern IndiaEryx miliaris(Pallas, 1773)0Dwarf sand boaFrom the northern Caucasus and the north coast of the Caspian Sea east through Kazakhstan to the north coast of the Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash, though the Zaysan Valley to Sinkiang in China and southern Mongolia. Also in northern and eastern Iran, Afghanistan and western Pakistan.Eryx muelleri(Boulenger, 1892)1Müller's sand boaMauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African RepublicEryx sistanensisEskandarzadeh, N. Rastegar-Pouyani, E. Rastegar-Pouyani, Zargan, Hajinourmohamadi, Nazarov, Sami, Rajabizadeh, Nabizadeh & Navaian, 20200Sistan sand boaIranEryx somalicusScortecci, 19390Somali sand boaSomaliaEryx vittatus(Chernov, 1959)0Northern Iran, Tajikistan, northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and eastern ChinaEryx whitakeriDas, 19910Whitaker's sand boaSouthwestern coastal India in Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and southern Maharashtra Not including the nominate subspecies. T Type species.
Fossil taxa Two fossil species are known. The earliest is E. linxiaensis from the Miocene of Gansu, China, which appears to be the sister species to Eryx colubrinus, suggesting several intercontinental dispersals from Africa to Eurasia during the Miocene. E. primitivus is known from the middle Pliocene of Spain, and appears to be an early offshoot of the main Eryx lineage.
References
Further reading Daudin FM (1803). Histoire Naturelle, Génerale et Particulière des Reptiles; Ouvrage faisant suite aux Œuvres de Leclerc de Buffon, et partie du Cours complet d'Histoire naturelle rédigé par C.S. Sonnini, membre de plusieurs Sociétés savantes. Tome septième [Volume 7]. Paris: F. Dufart. 436 pp. (Eryx, new genus, pp. 251–253). (in French).
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