Why “atractaspidine” is a great word
An atractaspidine is any snake belonging to the subfamily Atractaspidinae, a group of rear-fanged, often burrowing serpents. From the modern Latin taxonomic name Atractaspidinae, itself derived from the genus name Atractaspis, which is from Greek 'atraktos' ("spindle") and 'aspis' ("asp, shield"), referring to the snake's form. Unlike "aparallactine" (which denotes a separate, sister subfamily of fossorial hunters) or the catch-all "colubrid" (which vaguely groups myriad rear-fanged snakes by default), an atractaspidine is defined by a precise and peculiar lineage. It is the sinuous shape slipping soundlessly into sandy soil, the hinged fangs folding back like clockwork, and the cool musculature pressing through darkness without eyes—an existence so perfectly adapted to burial that the surface world becomes almost theoretical, a rumor of light above the constant, granular resistance.