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Posted by WW on February 04, 2003 at 04:47:01:
In Reply to: Crotalidae/Viperidae query posted by jpawlik on February 03, 2003 at 20:59:08:
:Hey all,
:Opinions seem to differ on whether Crotalidae is it's own family, containing the New World pitvipers such as Bothrops and Agkistrodon, and separate from the family Viperidae which would contain Bitis, Echis, etc. Is Crotalidae(Crotalinae?) merely a subfamily within Viperidae, or is it valid standing alone as a separate family?
Majority opinion these days classifies the Viperinae and Crotalinae as subfamilies of the Family Viperidae. Azemiops is sometime placed in its own subfamily, the Azemiopinae.
Given that nobody disputes the monophyly of vipers+pitvipers as a whole, lumping them kind of makes sense. But then arguing about taxonomivc rank at that level is an exercise in futility anyway.
Cheers,
Wolfgang
