Organisms

Boidae

A family of snakes comprising the boas, anacondas, and pythons. They occupy a variety of habitats through the tropics and subtropics and are arboreal, aquatic or fossorial (burrowing). Some are oviparous, others ovoviviparous. Contrary to popular opinion, they do not crush the bones of their victims: their coils exert enough pressure to stop a prey's breathing, thus suffocating it. There are five subfamilies: Boinae, Bolyerinae, Erycinae, Pythoninae, and Tropidophiinae. (Goin, Goin, and Zug, Introduction to Herpetology, 3d ed, p315-320)

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

A family of snakes comprising the boas, anacondas, and pythons. They occupy a variety of habitats through the tropics and subtropics and are arboreal, aquatic or fossorial (burrowing). Some are oviparous, others ovoviviparous. Contrary to popular opinion, they do not crush the bones of their victims: their coils exert enough pressure to stop a prey's breathing, thus suffocating it. There are five subfamilies: Boinae, Bolyerinae, Erycinae, Pythoninae, and Tropidophiinae. (Goin, Goin, and Zug, Introduction to Herpetology, 3d ed, p315-320)

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

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MeSH Record

Synonyms

7 entry terms
  • Boinae
  • Anaconda
  • Boa
  • Python
  • Anacondas
  • Boas
  • Pythons

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

17 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings abnormalities, anatomy & histology, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, classification, embryology, genetics, growth & development, immunology, injuries, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, physiology, surgery, urine, virology.

MeSH Record

History Note

94

MeSH Record

Previous Indexing

  • Snakes (1966-1993)

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Boidae. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D017821. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D017821
  2. Boidae. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boidae
  3. Boidae. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q45556