Dendrelaphis is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Ahaetuliinae of the family Colubridae. Species of the genus Dendrelaphis are distributed from Pakistan, India and southern China to Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. There are over 50 described species. Asian species are known commonly as bronzebacks, while the Australo-Papuan species are simply called tree snakes. All are non-venomous and entirely harmless to humans.

Taxonomy

Dendrelaphis is one of five genera belonging to the vine snake subfamily Ahaetuliinae, of which Dendrelaphis is most closely related to Chrysopelea, as shown in the cladogram below:

Species

This list is based on the latest checklist of snakes in the world and recent revisions and descriptions published in the scientific literature.

The authors of a 2015 revision of the Australo-Papuan Dendrelaphis species recommended the synonymizing of D. solomonis within D. calligaster, the elevation of D. keiensis to species status, the resurrection of D. lineolatus from within D. calligaster, and the resurrection of D. macrops and elevation of D. striolatus from within D. punctulatus. They also confined D. punctulatus to Australia and D. papuensis to the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea.

• Dendrelaphis andamanensis – Andaman bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis anthracina

• Dendrelaphis ashoki – Ashok's bronzeback tree snake

• Dendrelaphis atra

• Dendrelaphis bifrenalis – Boulenger's bronzeback – southern India and Sri Lanka

• Dendrelaphis biloreatus – Gore's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis binhi – Binh's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis calligaster – northern treesnake, green treesnake, coconut treesnake

• Dendrelaphis caudolineatus – striped bronzeback, grey bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis caudolineolatus – Gunther's bronzeback tree snake

• Dendrelaphis chairecacos

• Dendrelaphis cyanochloris – blue bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis effrenis – Sinharaja tree snake

• Dendrelaphis flavescens – Sulu bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis formosus – elegant bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis fuliginosus – Philippine lamp-black tree snake

• Dendrelaphis gastrostictus – montane treesnake

• Dendrelaphis girii – Giri's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis grandoculis – large-eyed bronzeback, southern bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis grismeri

• Dendrelaphis haasi – Haas's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis hollinrakei

• Dendrelaphis humayuni – Nicobar bronzeback, Tiwari's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis inornatus – Lesser Sunda bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis keiensis – Kei treesnake

• Dendrelaphis kopsteini – Kopstein's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis levitoni – Leviton's bronzeback tree snake

• Dendrelaphis lineolatus

• Dendrelaphis lorentzii – Lorentz River treesnake

• Dendrelaphis luzonensis – Luzon bronzeback treesnake

• Dendrelaphis macrops

• Dendrelaphis marenae – Maren's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis melanarkys

• Dendrelaphis modestus – grey bronzeback, striped bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis ngansonensis – Nganson bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis nigroserratus – sawtooth-necked bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis oliveri – Oliver's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis papuensis – Papuan treesnake

• Dendrelaphis philippinensis – Philippine bronzeback treesnake

• Dendrelaphis pictus – painted bronzeback, common bronzeback, Indonesian bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis proarchos

• Dendrelaphis punctulatus – common treesnake, Australian treesnake, green tree snake

• Dendrelaphis schokari – Schokar's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis striatus – striped bronzeback, striated bronzeback treesnake

• Dendrelaphis striolatus

• Dendrelaphis subocularis – mountain bronzeback, Burmese bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis terrificus – terrific bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis thasuni

• Dendrelaphis tristis – common bronzeback, Daudin's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis underwoodi – Underwood's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis vogeli – Vogel's bronzeback

• Dendrelaphis walli

• Dendrelaphis wickrorum – Wickramasinghes' bronzeback

Description

Bronzebacks range in total length (including tail) from to up to . All species have a slender body with a long tail. Males are shorter in length and brighter in coloration; they also tend to be more active. Females are stouter with duller or darker colorations and are less active. Typical coloration includes red, brown, or orange on the head with bronze, brown, or olive-green running down the length of the back. The underside of the body is usually bright to pale green or yellow. They have big eyes and bright red tongues. The tail is fully prehensile.

Diet

The primary prey of Dendrelaphis species consists of lizards and frogs, but the larger species are capable of taking birds, bats, and small rodents.

References

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (Genus Dendrelaphis, p.87, Figure 7).

• Wall F (1921). Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo, Ceylon [Sri Lanka]: Colombo Museum. (H.R. Cottle, Government Printer). xxii + 581 pp. (Genus Dendrelaphis, pp.220–221).

External links

• Video of