Indonesian Bronze-back
Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin, 1789)
Also calledGefleckte Bronzenatter (deu) · Gemeine Bronzenatter (deu) · ពស់ខែ្សគោខ្នងទង់ដែង (khm) · 过树蛇 (zho)
First described in: Gmelin, J. F. Caroli a Linné Systema naturae. 13. ed., Tom 1 Pars 3.
Dendrelaphis pictus, commonly known as either the common bronzeback, painted bronzeback, or Indonesian bronzeback, is a species of colubrid snake found in Southeast Asia.
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
discussion
Remarks. Similar to D. caudolineatus, D. pictus also encompassed a wide-distribution prior to being split into several species, with the Singapore population still recognised as D. pictus (see Rooijen & Vogel 2008; Vogel & Rooijen 2008). Dendrelaphis pictus was first reported in Singapore by Girard (1858 b). Much earlier, Gray (1832 – 1835) published an illustration of D. pictus under the name Ahaetulla bellii, but did not specify a locality for the specimen. As Smith (1943) indicated that Singapore was the origin of the specimen, and van Rooijen & Vogel (2008) designated Singapore as the type locality for A. bellii, Gray’s (1832 – 1835) illustration can be considered the first record of D. pictus from Singapore. Several specimens illustrated in Gray (1832 – 1835) were collected early on and deposited in museums (Girard 1858 b; Blanford 1881; Sclater 1891 a). After Sworder (1924 a) reported one from Pulau Ayer Merbau, a new record of D. pictus was not reported until 64 years later (Table 2) when one was captured at Singapore Zoo (Lim & Lim 1988 b). Sworder (1923) classified D. pictus as very common, and in addition to being very common today, D. pictus is also very abundant at suit
Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution
materials_examined
Singapore conservation status. Least Concern. Conservation priority. Lowest. IUCN conservation status. Least Concern [2021]. LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): ZRC. 2.3692, ZRC. 2.5009, ZRC. 2.5464 (no date), ZRC. 2.3732 (Jan- 1922), ZRC. 2.3736 (Mar- 1949), ZRC. 2.3730 (Sep- 1997); Botanic Gardens: ZRC. 2.3728 (no date), ZRC. 2.3677 (Aug- 1897), Bukit Timah: ZRC. 2.3684 (20 - Mar- 1923); Greenbank Park: ZRC. 2.6040 (11 - Apr- 2004), ZRC. 2.6289 (06 - Dec- 2005); Island Club Road [SICC]: ZRC. 2.6324 (16 - Jan- 2007), ZRC. 2.6726 (05 - Aug- 2008); Kent Ridge [NUS]: ZRC. 2.5518 (04 - Dec- 1974); Kranji: ZRC. 2.3740 (23 - Jan- 1923); Lim Teck Boo Road: ZRC. 2.5520 (14 - Dec- 1978); Mandai Lake Road: ZRC. 2.6826 (16 - Jun- 2009); Mandai Road: ZRC. 2.6254 (21 - May- 2005); Museum Compound [= National Museum]: ZRC. 2.3691 (20 - Feb- 1899); Old Upper Thomson Road: ZRC. 2.6729 (08 - Aug- 2008); Portsdown Road: ZRC. 2.6083 (29 - Jun- 2004); Pulau Ayer Merbau: ZRC. 2.3735 (19 - Apr- 1923); Pulau Tekong: ZRC. 2.6203 (27 - Jun- 2006); Pulau Ubin: ZRC. 2.3681 (15 - Apr- 1921), ZRC. 2.6942 (Jun- 2011); Queensway: ZRC. 2.6817 (05 - Feb- 2009); Seletar Reservoir: BMNH 1983.9
Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution
distribution
General Distribution. Bangladesh and Northeast India through southern Myanmar to northern West Malaysia.
Filling the BINs of life: Report of an amphibian and reptile survey of the Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Region of Myanmar, with DNA barcode data
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The snake's colouration is olive or brown above with a yellow lateral stripe, bordered below by a dark line between the outer scales and the ventrals. A black stripe on each side of the head passes through the eye, widens or breaks up into spots, separated by bluish-green bands on the nape. The upper lip is yellow, and the lower surface yellowish or greenish. Length of head and body approximately 74 cm (29 in) and the tail 44 cm (17 in).
The maxillary teeth number from 23 to 26, the eye is as long as the distance between the nostril and eye. The rostral scale is more broad than deep, and is visible from above. Internasal scales are as long as, or slightly shorter than, the prefrontal scales. The frontal scale is as long as its distance from the rostral or the tip of the snout, but shorter than the parietal scales. The loreal is long and there is one preocular and two postoculars. The temporal scales are 2+2, 1+1, or 1+2. There are nine (seven or eight) upper labials, with the fifth and sixth (or fourth to sixth) entering the eye. This snake has five (four) lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shields the latter shorter than the posterior, which are separated by one anterior and two posterior scales. Scales are in 15 rows, vertebrals about as large as the outer. Ventrals number 151–204, the anal scale is divided, and subcaudals number 103–174.
Range & habitat
It is found throughout Southeast Asian forests in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore. Populations from India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar are now considered to belong to the separate species Dendrelaphis proarchos.
What it does
They are diurnal and arboreal tree-dwelling snakes, and are able to climb steep and smooth surfaces by using specialized belly scales and a gripping technique called concertina locomotion. They are even able to "jump" across gaps in tree branches using rapid looped movements, possibly an evolutionary precursor to how the closely-related flying snakes launch into a glide. When threatened, it inflates and flattens the front of its body, spreading its scales to reveal bright blue to turquoise skin underneath.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Dendrelaphis pictus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 2459346.