{{Short description|Family of snakes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Casarea_dussumieri_IleRonde_860513.jpg | image_caption = Round Island ground boa, ''Casarea&nbsp;dussumieri'' | taxon = Bolyeriidae | authority = Hoffstetter, 1946 | synonyms = * Bolyerinae <br />{{small|Hoffstetter, 1946}} * Bolyeriinae <br />{{small|C.J. Goin & O.B. Goin, 1962}} * Bolyeroidae <br />{{small|McDowell, 1987}} * Bolyeriidae <br />{{small|McDowell, 1987}}<ref name="McD99">McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA. (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> }}

:''Common names: Mauritius snakes,<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=202188 |taxon=Bolyeriidae |accessdate=16 August 2007}}</ref> Round Island boas, splitjaw snakes.'' The '''Bolyeriidae''' are a family<ref name="ITIS"/> of snakes native to Mauritius and a few islands around it, especially Round Island. They also used to be found on the island of Mauritius, but were extirpated there due to human influence and foraging pigs in particular.<ref name="NRDB">{{NRDB family|page=bolyeridae.php|family=Bolyeridae|date=3 November|year=2008}}</ref> These snakes used to be placed in the Boidae, but are now classed as a separate family. Two monotypic genera are recognized, but only a single species is extant (not extinct).<ref name="ITIS"/> Bolyeriidae appear to be most closely related to the Asian genus ''Xenophidion''.<ref name="Lawson04">{{cite journal|last1=Lawson|first1=R.|last2=Slowinski|first2=J. B.|last3=Burbrink|first3=F. T.|title=A molecular approach to discerning the phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic snake Xenophidion schaeferi among the Alethinophidia|journal=Journal of Zoology|date=2004|volume=263|issue=3|pages=285–294|doi=10.1017/s0952836904005278|citeseerx=10.1.1.504.6967}}</ref>

==Geographic range== Found in Mauritius and its surrounding islets such as Serpent island, Round island, Flat island etc.<ref name="McD99"/>

==Genera== {|class="wikitable !Genus<ref name="ITIS"/> !Taxon author<ref name="ITIS"/> !Species<ref name="ITIS"/> !Common name !Geographic range<ref name="McD99"/> |- |''Bolyeria''<span style="font-size:100%;"><sup>T</sup></span> |Gray, 1842 |align="center"|1 |Round Island burrowing boa<ref name="EMBL-B">{{EMBL species|genus=Bolyeria|species=multocarinata|date=17 August|year=2007}}</ref> |style="width:40%"|Mauritius. |- |''Casarea'' |Gray, 1842 |align="center"|1 |Round Island ground boa<ref name="EMBL-C">{{EMBL species|genus=Casarea|species=dussumieri|date=17 August|year=2007}}</ref> |Mauritius. |- |} <span style="font-size:100%;"><sup>T</sup></span>) Type genus.<ref name="McD99"/>

Both of these monotypic genera once inhabited Mauritius and/or a number of islands around it. However, ''Bolyeria'' hasn't been reported since 1975 and is believed to be extinct, while ''Casarea'' is known to survive only on Round Island.<ref name="McD99"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite encyclopedia | last = Barker | first = David G.| last2 = Barker | first2 = Tracy M. | editor-last = Murphy | editor-first = James B.| editor-last2 = Schlager | editor-first2 = Neil | title = Family: Splitjaw snakes | encyclopedia = Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, Second Edition | volume = 7 | publisher = Gale Group | location = Farmington Hills, Michigan | date = 2003 | isbn = 0-7876-5783-2 |ref={{harvid|Barker|2003}}}} *Hoffstetter R (1946). "''Remarques sur la classification des Ophidiens et particulièrement des Boides des Mascareignes (Boylerinae subfam. nov.)''". ''Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle'', Series 2, '''18''' (1): 132–135. (in French).

==External links== {{Commons}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150122220757/http://snakesarelong.blogspot.com/2012/04/round-island-splitjaw-snakes.html Bolyeriids at Life is Short, but Snakes are Long].

{{Snake_families}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q582998}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Bolyeriidae Category:Reptiles of Mauritius Category:Endemic fauna of Mauritius Category:Taxa named by Robert Hoffstetter Category:Snake families