Green Bush Rat Snake

Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth 1854) Blyth 1854

Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1854): Green bush ratsnake / Ran soc xanh At the end of the dry season we found an adult male specimen (ZFMK 86443, SVL 775, TaL 300, TL 1075 mm) at an altitude of about 700 m above sea level. The male was crossing a forest street during heavy rains at early afternoon (about 15:00h) of 21 August 2006 in the U Bo region. Scalation features are as follows: nine (right) to ten (left) supralabials (right: 4–6, left: 5–7 in contact with eye); ten infralabials; one loreal; one preocular; two postoculars; two anterior temporals, followed by two (left) and three (right side) posterior temporals; 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody (keeled, except four outermost row); one preventral and 197 ventrals; ventral scales laterally edged; anal divided; 114 divided subcaudals. The subcaudal number of our specimen slightly exceeds the maximum value of 111 given in Manthey & Grossmann (1997). For the characteristic coloration see Figure 10. In Vietnam, the species was previously only known (as Elaphe prasina) from a few northern provinces (Bac Can, Bac Thai, Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Thai Nguyen, and Vinh Phuc) as well as from Gia Lai Province in southern Vietnam (Nguyen & Ho 1996,

The diversity of a snake community in a karst forest ecosystem in the central Truong Son, Vietnam, with an identification key

Description of the specimen from China

Description of the specimen from China Adult male, body slender, SVL 558 mm, TaL 159 mm, TaL/TL 0.22; head elongate, HL 24.0 mm, distinct from neck, flattened, distinctly longer than wide, HL/HW 2.02, narrowed anteriorly; snout long, slightly projecting beyond lower jaw; nostril relatively small, lateral, nasal divided into two scales, anterior one slightly larger than posterior one; eye large, ED 3.9 mm, ED/HL 0.16, pupils round; rostral approximately triangular, wider than high, visible from above; two internasals, nearly square in shape, bordered by two prefrontals posteriorly; supraocular one on each side, large; frontal pentagonal, longer than wide, narrowed posteriorly; parietals large, longer than wide, in contact with each other; loreal one on each side, small, wider than high; preocular one on each side, large; postoculars two on each side, lower ones smaller; anterior temporal two on left side and one on right side, posterior temporal two on left side and one on right side; supralabials nine on each side, first and second in contact with nasal, second and third in contact with loreal, fourth to sixth entering orbit, eighth largest; infralabials ten on each side, first p

Confirmation of the distribution of Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1855) and Boiga multomaculata septentrionalis Köhler, Charunrochana, Mogk, Than, Kurniawan, Kadafi, Das, Tillack & O’Shea, 2023 (Serpentes, Colubridae) in China

Colouration in life

Colouration in life Dorsal surface green with yellow-brownish tail tip, reticulate pattern consisting of yellow, black and white on interstitial skin; upper lips light green to greenish-white; anterior ventral surface white to greenish-white, posterior ventral surface greenish-white to light-green; ventral surface of tail tip brownish-yellow; a yellowish-white ventrolateral strip on each side from neck to before vent; iris greenish-yellow (Figs 2, 3).

Confirmation of the distribution of Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1855) and Boiga multomaculata septentrionalis Köhler, Charunrochana, Mogk, Than, Kurniawan, Kadafi, Das, Tillack & O’Shea, 2023 (Serpentes, Colubridae) in China