Ophidia

Ophidia (also known as Pan-Serpentes) is a group of squamate reptiles including modern snakes and reptiles more closely related to snakes than to other living groups of lizards. Ophidia was defined as the "most recent common ancestor of Pachyrhachis and Serpentes (modern snakes), and all its descendants" by Lee and Caldwell (1998: 1551). The clade name Ophidia derives from the Ancient Greek word ὀφίδιον (ophídion), meaning "small snake".