Toxicofera

Toxicofera (Greek or Latin for "those who carry toxins"), is a hypothetical clade of living Squamata (lizards and snakes). It includes about 4600 living species. This is all venomous reptile species, plus related non-venomous species.

The clade was identified when research showed that the evolution of venom was very ancient, and that it might have occurred only once.

 Cladistics 
The Toxicofera combines the following groups from traditional classification:

 Suborder Serpentes (snakes)
 Suborder Iguania (iguanas, agamid lizards, chameleons, etc.)
 Infraorder Anguimorpha, consisting of:
 Family Varanidae (monitor lizards)
 Family Anguidae (alligator lizards, glass lizards, etc.)
 Family Helodermatidae (Gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard)

 References 

category:scaled reptiles