Colubroidea is a superfamily of

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s in the clade

Colubroides The Colubroides are a clade in the suborder Serpentes ( snakes). It contains over 85% of all the extant species of snakes. The largest family is Colubridae, but it also includes at least six other families, at least four of which were once clas ...

that includes

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...

, with some studies splitting Colubridae into multiple families that make up Colubroidea. Historically, Colubroidea also included other

caenophidia The Caenophidia are a derived clade of alethinophidian snakes, which contains over 80% of all the extant species of snakes. The largest family is Colubridae, but it also includes at least seven other families, at least four of which were once ...

n snakes such as cobras and

viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

s, as these snakes form a clade. However these groups are now divided into several distinct, but related, families. Zaher et al. (2009) proposed to redefine Colubroidea for colubrids and related families, while designating

as the group containing vipers and cobras as well as colubroids. The ReptileDatabase considers Colubroidea to be composed of Colubridae and the members of its sister group,

Elapoidea The Elapoidea are a Superfamily (biology), superfamily of snakes in the clade Colubroides, traditionally comprising the families Lamprophiidae and Elapidae. Advanced genomic sequence studies, however, have found lamprophiids to be paraphyletic in ...

, and does not recognize the division of Colubridae into multiple families.

Classification

Phylogeny Families and Subfamilies Usual taxonomy: * Family:

Oppel, 1811 ** Subfamily: Grayiinae Günther, 1858 ** Subfamily: Calamariinae Bonaparte, 1838 ** Subfamily:

Ahaetullinae The Ahaetuliinae are a subfamily of the snake family Colubridae that was erected in 2016 and comprises five genera containing 63 species (''Ahaetulla'' 7 species '' Chrysopelea'' species ''Dendrelaphis'' 5 species ''Dryophiops'' speciesand ...

Figueroa, McKelvy, Grismer, Bell & Lailvaux, 2016 ** Subfamily:

Colubrinae The Colubrinae are a subfamily of the family Colubridae of snakes. It includes numerous genera, and although taxonomic sources often disagree on the exact number, The Reptile Database lists 717 species in 92 genera as of September 2019. It is t ...

Oppel, 1811 ** Subfamily:

Sibynophiinae Sibynophiinae is a small subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Sibynophiidae). This group has also been called Scaphiodontophiinae but since the name Sibynophiinae is older, it has priority. They are commonly called h ...

Dunn, 1928 ** Subfamily:

Natricidae The Natricinae are a subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Natricidae). The subfamily comprises 37 genera. Members include many very common snake species, such as the European grass snakes, and the North American ...

Bonaparte, 1838 ** Subfamily: Pseudoxenodontidae McDowell, 1987 ** Subfamily:

Xenodontinae Xenodontinae is a subfamily of snakes in the family Colubridae. The subfamily Xenodontinae encompasses a number of rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous), mildly venomous snake genera found in South America and the Caribbean. Members of the subfamily ...

Dunn, 1928 ** Subfamily:

Dipsadinae Dipsadinae is a large subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Dipsadidae). They are found in most of the Americas, including the West Indies, and are most diverse in South America. There are more than 700 species. Dips ...

Bonaparte, 1838 Alternate taxonomy: *Family: Sibynophiidae Dunn, 1928 * Family:

Bonaparte, 1838 * Family: Pseudoxenodontidae McDowell, 1987 * Family: Dipsadidae Bonaparte, 1838 ** Subfamily: Carphophiinae Zaher et al., 2009 ** Subfamily:

Dunn, 1928 ** Subfamily:

Bonaparte, 1838 * Family:

Oppel, 1811 ** Subfamily: Grayiinae Günther, 1858 ** Subfamily: Calamariinae Bonaparte, 1838 ** Subfamily:

Figueroa, McKelvy, Grismer, Bell & Lailvaux, 2016 ** Subfamily:

Oppel, 1811 Unknown Genera

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''(not currently placed in a family, usually because of the absence of genetic data, but suspected to be colubroids based on morphology)''

Fossil Colubroidea

North America

; Mexico

South America

; Legend * Age - bold is type age (

SALMA The South American land mammal ages (SALMA) establish a geologic timescale for prehistoric South American fauna beginning 64.5 Ma during the Paleocene and continuing through to the Late Pleistocene (0.011 Ma). These periods are referred to as a ...

) * Formation - bold is

Lagerstätte A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These for ...

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References

Alethinophidia {{Alethinophidia-stub