noob question: What does "boid" mean?

[cassandra]

I've seen this word used quite a bit and I'm guessing it's a term that refers to general snakes or maybe just constrictor snakes, but dictionary.com looks at me funny when I ask it to define boid and I'm not sure what it means.

(I got in trouble when I was 12 when I called my dad a "dildo" - I thought it meant "dumb person"...my mom made me look it up and since then, if I don't exactly know what a word means, I ask!)

[ARamos8]

Boid - boas and pythons - constrictor family. boids are constrictors. Did I spell that right?

[cassandra]

Is it Latin then? Or an abbreviation of a Latin word for the genus or something? =)

[Kara]

Boid (pronounced "bow-id" - 2 syllables with a long "O" sound, not "boyd") - a snake from the family "Boidae," which encompasses the subfamilies Boinae (boas & close kin), Erycinae (sand boas & kin), and Pythoninae (pythons & kin).

So while all boids are constrictors, not all constrictors are boids. There are many colubrid snakes that constrict their food, as well.

Hope this helps!

K~

[JLC]

Boid (pronounced "bow-id" - 2 syllables with a long "O" sound, not "boyd") - a snake from the family "Boidae," which encompasses the subfamilies Boinae (boas & close kin), Erycinae (sand boas & kin), and Pythoninae (pythons & kin).

So while all boids are constrictors, not all constrictors are boids. There are many colubrid snakes that constrict their food, as well.

Hope this helps!

K~

Great explanation! I never knew it was pronounced that way. My maiden name is "Boyd" and it would sometimes feel funny to see "boid-lover" or something like that because of the way my brain would pronounce it. LOL

[olaf]

That's one of those words that I know what it means, but when I actually think about it, I have no clue.

[cassandra]

Boid (pronounced "bow-id" - 2 syllables with a long "O" sound, not "boyd") - a snake from the family "Boidae," which encompasses the subfamilies Boinae (boas & close kin), Erycinae (sand boas & kin), and Pythoninae (pythons & kin).

So while all boids are constrictors, not all constrictors are boids. There are many colubrid snakes that constrict their food, as well.

Hope this helps!

K~

This is awesome and exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you! =)

[rabernet]

Boid (pronounced "bow-id" - 2 syllables with a long "O" sound, not "boyd")
K~

Wow, that's what I love about this forum - you're constantly learning. I've always thought of it a "boyd" in my head.

Now, how you keep all these scientific names straight - amazes me!!!!!

[cassandra]

KLG,

Could you give a recommendation for perhaps a website where one might learn more about the Latin classification system for animals? Thanks! =)

[Smulkin]

just animals?

you could start with wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnaea...axonomic_ranks