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Chironius is one of the most speciose genera of the South American colubrid snakes. Although the genus represents a well-known radiation of diurnal racers, its monophyly, affinities with other Neotropical colubrid genera, and intrageneric relationships are open questions. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of Chironius based on a data matrix that combines one nuclear ( c-mos) and two mitochondrial ( 12S and 16S rRNA) genes with 37 morphological characters derived from scutellation, skull, and hemipenial features. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using maximum parsimony ( MP) and maximum likelihood ( ML). Our combined morphological and molecular analyses strongly support the monophyly of the genus Chironius and its sister-group relationship with a clade formed by the genera Dendrophidion and Drymobius. Phylogenetic relationships within the genus Chironius is still controversial, although five clades are retrieved with medium to strong support. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]