Toxicofera
| Toxicoferans Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Venomous snakes, such as the rattlesnake shown above, are the best-known venomous squamates | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Clade: | Toxicofera Vidal & Hedges, 2005 |
| Subgroups | |
| Synonyms | |
Toxicofera (Latin for "toxin-bearers") is a proposed clade of scaled reptiles (squamates) that includes the Serpentes (snakes), Anguimorpha (monitor lizards, beaded lizards, and alligator lizards) and Iguania (iguanas, agamas, and chameleons). Toxicofera contains about 4,600 species (nearly 60%) of extant Squamata. It encompasses all venomous reptile species, as well as numerous related non-venomous species. There is little morphological evidence to support this grouping; however, it has been recovered by all molecular analyses as of 2012.