[2][3][4] Calamaria is a large genus of dwarf burrowing[5] snakes[6] of the family Colubridae.

[8] Species in the genus Calamaria share the following characteristics.

The head is not distinct from neck; the eye is small, with a round pupil; the nostril is pierced in a minute nasal scale.

The body is cylindrical, with smooth dorsal scales, without apical pits, in 13 rows.

[4] Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Calamaria.