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Dendrelaphis

{{Short description|Genus of snakes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| 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:{{Cite journal |last1=Mallik |first1=Ashok Kumar |last2=Achyuthan |first2=N. Srikanthan |last3=Ganesh |first3=Sumaithangi R. |last4=Pal |first4=Saunak P. |last5=Vijayakumar |first5=S. P. |last6=Shanker |first6=Kartik |date=27 July 2019 |title=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 |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=14 |issue=7 |pages=e0218851 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0218851 |pmid=31314800 |pmc=6636718 |issn=1932-6203 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1418851M |doi-access=free}}

{{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%

|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{{cite book |author1=Wallach, V. |author1-link=Van Wallach |author2=Williams, K.L. |author2-link=Kenneth L. Williams |author3=Boundy, J. |author3-link=species:Jeff Boundy |date=2014 |title=Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species |place=Boca Raton, Florida |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4822-0847-4}} 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.{{cite journal |author1=van Rooijen, J. |author1-link=species:Johan van Rooijen |author2=Vogel, G. |author2-link=species:Gernot Vogel |author3=Somaweera, R. |author3-link=species:Ruchira Somaweera |year=2015 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Australo-Papuan species of the colubrid genus Dendrelaphis (Serpentes: Colubridae) |journal=Salamandra |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=33–56 |doi= |url=}}

Description

Bronzebacks range in total length (including tail) from {{convert|2|ft|m}} to up to {{convert|6|ft|m}}. 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

{{Reflist}}

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).
  • {{cite book|author=Gow GF|author-link=species:Graeme Francis Gow|title=Snakes of Australia, Completely Revised Edition|location=Sydney|publisher=HarperCollins Australia. 128 pp|year=1983|isbn=0-207-14437-0}}
  • 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

  • {{EMBL genus|genus=Dendrelaphis}}
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyKP5V-MohA Video of Dendrelaphis kopsteini in Malaysia]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q179711}}

Category:Snake genera

Category:Snakes of Asia

Category:Snakes of Southeast Asia

Category:Reptiles of Oceania

Category:Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger

Category:Snakes of Australia