Dendrelaphis

Quality 0.50 · 3 views · Updated 2 months ago

Genus of snakes

title: "Dendrelaphis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dendrelaphis", "snake-genera", "snakes-of-asia", "snakes-of-southeast-asia", "reptiles-of-oceania", "taxa-named-by-george-albert-boulenger", "snakes-of-australia"] description: "Genus of snakes" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrelaphis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of snakes ::

| image = Common tree snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus) Daintree 4.jpg | image_caption = D. punctulatus | taxon = Dendrelaphis | authority = Boulenger, 1890 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 40 recognized species, see article. | synonyms = Dendrophis

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: |label1=Ahaetuliinae |1={{clade |label1=sharp-nosed snakes |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Ahaetulla |2=Proahaetulla }} |2=Dryophiops }} |label2=broad-nosed snakes |2={{clade |label1=Dendrelaphis |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Dendrelaphis marenae |2=Dendrelaphis haasi }} |2=Dendrelaphis pictus }} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Dendrelaphis ngansonensis |2=Dendrelaphis cyanochloris }} |2=Dendrelaphis striatus }} }} |2=Dendrelaphis formosus }} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Dendrelaphis tristis |2=Dendrelaphis subocularis }} |2=Dendrelaphis schokari }} |2={{clade |1=Dendrelaphis fuliginosus |2=Dendrelaphis caudolineatus }} }} }} |2=Chrysopelea }} }} }}

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.

Description

Bronzebacks range in total length (including tail) from 2 ft to up to 6 ft. 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

References

  1. (27 July 2019). "Discovery of a deeply divergent new lineage of vine snake (Colubridae: Ahaetuliinae: ''Proahaetulla'' gen. nov.) from the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India with a revised key for Ahaetuliinae". [[PLOS ONE]].
  2. (2014). "Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species". CRC Press.
  3. (2015). "A revised taxonomy of the Australo-Papuan species of the colubrid genus ''Dendrelaphis'' (Serpentes: Colubridae)". Salamandra.
  4. (2025). "New species of snakes of the genus ''Dendrelaphis'' (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Milne Bay Islands, Papua New Guinea". Zootaxa.
  5. (2011). "Contributions to a review of the ''Dendrelaphis pictus'' (Gmelin, 1789) complex (Serpentes: Colubridae) – 3. The Indian forms, with the description of a new species from the Western Ghats". Journal of Herpetology.
  6. Boulenger, G.A.. (1890). "Reptilia and Batrachia: The Fauna of British India Including Ceylon and Burma". Taylor and Francis.
  7. (2023). "A new snake of the genus ''Dendrelaphis'' Boulenger, 1890 (Squamata: Colubridae) from the coastal area of southern Vietnam". Zootaxa.
  8. Lazell, J.D.. (2002). "The herpetofauna of Shek Kwu Chau, South Chinese Sea, with descriptions of two new colubrid snakes". Memoirs of the Hong Kong Natural History Society.
  9. Pskhun. (2025-04-23). "Species New to Science: [Herpetology • 2025] ''Dendrelaphis thasuni'' • A New Species of ''Dendrelaphis'' Boulenger, 1890 (Reptilia: Colubridae) from an isolated misty mountain in the South Eastern intermediate zone of Sri Lanka".
  10. Atthanagoda, Anusha, et al. (2025). [https://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/manuscript/index.php/arc/article/view/98/6 A new species of ''Dendrelaphis'' Boulenger, 1890 (Reptilia: Colubridae) from an isolated misty mountain in the South Eastern intermediate zone of Sri Lanka.] ''Amphibian & Reptile Conservation'' '''19''' (1): 28–47 (e340).
  11. (2011). "Description of a new species of the genus ''Dendrelaphis'' Boulenger, 1890 from Myanmar (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae)". Bonn Zoological Bulletin.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

dendrelaphissnake-generasnakes-of-asiasnakes-of-southeast-asiareptiles-of-oceaniataxa-named-by-george-albert-boulengersnakes-of-australia