Colubroidea is a superfamily of snakes in the clade Colubroides that includes Colubridae, with some studies splitting Colubridae into multiple families that make up Colubroidea. Historically, Colubroidea also included other caenophidian snakes such as cobras and vipers, 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 Colubroides 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, and does not recognize the division of Colubridae into multiple families. Classification Phylogeny Families and Subfamilies Usual taxonomy: Family: Colubridae Oppel, 1811 Subfamily: Grayiinae Günther, 1858 Subfamily: Calamariinae Bonaparte, 1838 Subfamily: Ahaetullinae Figueroa, McKelvy, Grismer, Bell & Lailvaux, 2016 Subfamily: Colubrinae Oppel, 1811 Subfamily: Sibynophiinae Dunn, 1928 Subfamily: Natricidae Bonaparte, 1838 Subfamily: Pseudoxenodontidae McDowell, 1987 Subfamily: Xenodontinae Dunn, 1928 Subfamily: Dipsadinae Bonaparte, 1838 Alternate taxonomy: Family: Sibynophiidae Dunn, 1928 Family: Natricidae Bonaparte, 1838 Family: Pseudoxenodontidae McDowell, 1987 Family: Dipsadidae Bonaparte, 1838 Subfamily: Carphophiinae Zaher et al., 2009 Subfamily: Xenodontinae Dunn, 1928 Subfamily: Dipsadinae Bonaparte, 1838 Family: Colubridae Oppel, 1811 Subfamily: Grayiinae Günther, 1858 Subfamily: Calamariinae Bonaparte, 1838 Subfamily: Ahaetullinae Figueroa, McKelvy, Grismer, Bell & Lailvaux, 2016 Subfamily: Colubrinae Oppel, 1811 Unknown Genera incertae sedis (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) Formation - bold is Lagerstätte References Alethinophidia