Scales 15:15:11 or 9 oblique rows. Vertebral scales slightly enlarged on neck. Ventrals 163-197. subcaudals 108-145, paired.
🗒 Synonyms
| synonym | Chrysopelea boiei Smith 1836 (fide Smith 1943) |
| synonym | Chrysopelea boiei Smith, 1836 |
| synonym | Chrysopelea Boieii Smith 1837 |
| synonym | Chrysopelea boieii Smith, 1837 |
| synonym | Coluber tristis Daudin, 1803 |
| synonym | Dendrelaphis tristis Boulenger 1894 |
| synonym | Dendrelaphis tristis Das 1996 |
| synonym | Dendrelaphis tristis Mcdowell & Jenner 1988 |
| synonym | Dendrelaphis tristis Rooijen & Vogel 2008 |
| synonym | Dendrelaphis tristis Wall 1921 |
| synonym | Dendrelaphis tristis Wallach et al. 2014 |
| synonym | Dendrolaphis tristis Luard, 1918 |
| synonym | Dendrophis boii Cantor, 1839 |
| synonym | Dendrophis helena Werner 1893 (fide Smith 1943) |
| synonym | Dendrophis helena Werner, 1893 |
| synonym | Dendrophis maniar Boie 1827 (fide Smith 1943) |
| synonym | Dendrophis maniar Boie, 1827 |
| synonym | Dendrophis pictus Boulenger 1890 (part. |
| synonym | Dendrophis pictus Boulenger, 1890 |
| synonym | Dendrophis scandens Boie, 1827 |
| synonym | Dipsas schokari Kuhl 1820 (part.) |
| synonym | Dipsas schokari Kuhl, 1820 |
| synonym | Leptophis mancas Bell 1825 (fide Smith 1943) |
| synonym | Leptophis mancas Bell, 1825 |
🗒 Common Names
| English |
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| Malayalam |
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| Other |
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📚 Overview
Summary
Reptile group
snakes
Brief
Sandeep Das, P S Easa, Jafer Palot
| Attributions | Sandeep Das, P S Easa, Jafer Palot |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Common Bronzeback is the most widespread Dendrelaphis species of India which is the only species of genus in most of the parts of Indian mainland. It can be easily identified by checking a rounded whitish spot on the top of head, very thin body which shows sky blue dots on dorsal surface and most of the side dorsal & belly of yellowish-white color.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Diagnostic Keys
Head:
9 supralabials, 5th & 6th in contact with eyes; 1 preocular; 1 loreal; 2 postocular; temporal 2+2.
Dorsal:
Smooth scales in 15: 15: 11/9 rows; obliquely arranged.
Ventral:
163-197; anal divided.
Sub Caudal:
108-145; paired.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
|
No Data
📚 Nomenclature and Classification
📚 Natural History
Reproduction
Reproductive mode (Reptiles)
Oviparous
Reproduction oviparous. Lays upto 8 eggs in heights mainly in tree holes, under dense leaf litters, cracks etc. New born usually seen from monsoon to starting of winters.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Morphology
Dorsal:
Body thin, long, covered with smooth scales. Scales arranged in oblique manner with top row along vertebra larger than adjacent dorsals. Color chocolate brown mixed with purple; having sky blue color on lower edge of fore and mid body scales which are best visible when snake is in alert or aggressive position.
Ventral:
Belly scales sharply folded upwards. Color yellowish-white or greenish-white which extends to first two dorsal rows also. Subcaudal scales with olive tint of yellow or brown color.
Head:
Head flattened, elongated and clearly broader than neck. Upper lip yellowish-white. A clear rounded whitish spot present on the middle of top which equally covers both parietal scales. This characterstic is found only in this species of Bronzeback and quite helpful to identify quickly. Large eyes with rounded pupils. Tongue color bluish-gray.
Tail:
Very long and thin tail of bronze, brown or blackish- brown color which ends with a pointed tip. Subcaudal scales paired in a zigzag manner.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Look Alikes
Southern Bronzeback Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis chairecacos )
Giri's Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis girii)
Ashok's Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis ashoki )
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Behaviour
Common Bronzeback is a diurnal and arboreal species which mainly shows activity from low to moderate heights during whole day. Locomotion very fast in both arboreal and terrestrial environment. Behavior alert, very quick and usually try to escape when threatened in its natural environment. Usually non-offensive but on threatening it laterally inflates much of fore body to show blue edge of most of the dorsal scales, sometimes open its mouth to look larger.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Trophic Strategy
Feeds mainly on lizards and frogs. Also takes small rodents and bird chicks.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
No Data
📚 Habitat and Distribution
General Habitat
Forests and human habitations
Sandeep Das, P S Easa, Jafer Palot
| Attributions | Sandeep Das, P S Easa, Jafer Palot |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Hides in tree holes, rock gaps at heights, dense bushes etc. Lives both in dense and open forests (mixed and dry deciduous forest), vegetation of moderate height, undisturbed gardens etc.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Description
All over the country excluding North-east states after Sikkim; also not found in Indian islands.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
South India
Sandeep Das, P S Easa, Jafer Palot
| Attributions | Sandeep Das, P S Easa, Jafer Palot |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Endemic Distribution
Endemic to Indian Subcontinent. Recorded from India and Pakistan.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
No Data
📚 Occurrence
No Data
📚 Demography and Conservation
Threats
Major threats are habitat destruction because this species lives mainly in dense vegetation. Road kill mortality is another cause. As this species avoids direct contact with human beings, intentional killing and threatening are not much effective threats.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
Protection Legal Status
Wildlife Protection Act (1972): Schedule 4
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
No Data
📚 Uses and Management
Uses
Common Bronzeback is ecologically important diurnal predator for lizards in variety of forests. In most of the parts of its range this is the only Bronzeback species making it significant for diversity of genus Dendrelaphis for its range.
indiansnakes.org
| Attributions | indiansnakes.org |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
No Data
📚 Information Listing
References
- Whitaker, R. and Captain, A .2004. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books.Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu,xiv+479, pls, text-figs.
Overview > Diagnostic > Diagnostic Keys
- Ganesh S. R., Asokan J. R. (2010) Catalogue of Indian herpetological specimens in the collection of the Government Museum Chennai, India. Hamadryad Vol. 35 (1), pp. 46 – 63
- Murthy T. S. N. (2010) The reptile fauna of India. B. R. Publishing Corporation
- Murthy T. S. N. (1990) Illustrated Guide to the Snakes of the Western Ghats, India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper No. 114
- Smith M. A. (1943) The fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma including the whole of The Indo-Chinese Sub-region, Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol 3 Serpentes. Taylor & Francis, London.
- Wall F. (1921) Remarks on the lndian species of Dendrophis and Dendrelaphis. Records of the Indian Museum 22:151-162
- Masroor R. (2011) The Common Bronzeback Tree Snake, Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin, 1803): an addition to the herpetofauna of Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool., vol. 43 (6), pp. 1215-1218
- systematics of Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin, 1803) and Dendrelaphis schokari (Kuhl, 1820): revalidation of Dendrophis chairecacos Boie, 1827 (Serpentes: Colubridae). Herpetological Journal 19: 193–200
- Wallach V., Williams K. L., Boundy J. (2014) Snakes of the World: A catalogue of living and extinct species. Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
- Whitaker R., Captain A. (2004) Snakes of India, The Field Guide. Draco Books
- Boulenger G. A. (1894) Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, London: Taylor and Francis.
- threats. Sauria, Berlin, 34 (3): 3–15
- Chandramouli S. R., Ganesh S. R. (2012) New records of Bronzeback Snakes (Serpentes: Colubridae: Dendrelaphis) from the central Western Ghats of India and a revised key to south Indian forms. Sauria, Berlin, 2012, 34 (2): 59–62
- Chandra K., Gajbe P. U. (2005) An inventory of herpetofauna of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Zoos' Print Journal 20 (3): 1812-1819
- Das A., Basu D., Converse L., Choudhury S. C. (2012) Herpetofauna of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 4 (5): 2553–2568
- Masroor R. (2012) A Contribution to the Herpetology of Northern Pakistan. Ithaca SSAR
- Whitaker R. (2005) Common Indian Snakes, A Field Guide. Macmillian Publishers
- Blackburn D. G. (1993) Standardized criteria for the recognition of reproductive modes in Squamate Reptiles. Herpetologica, 49 (1), 118-132
- Dutta S. K., Acharjyo L. N. (1995) Herpetofaunal resources and their conservation in Orissa, India. Zoos’ Print, Vol. 10 (7), pp. 5-8
- Kannan P., Venkatraman C. (1998) Reptile fauna of Siruvani Hills, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu. Cobra, Vol. 33, pp. 6-9
- Ziegler T., Vogel G. (1999) On the knowledge and specific status of Dendrelaphis ngansonensis (Bourret, 1935) (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae). Russian Journal of Herpetology Vol. 6 (3), pp. 199-208
- Rooijen J. V., Vogel, G. (2009) A multivariate investigation into the population
- Rooijen J. V., Vogel G (2008) An investigation into the taxonomy of Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin, 1803): revalidation of Dipsas schokari (Kuhl, 1820) (Serpentes, Colubridae). Contributions to Zoology, 77 (1) 33-43
- Srinivasulu C., Das I. (2008) The herpetofauna of Nallamala Hills, Eastern Ghats, India: an annotated checklist, with remarks on nomenclature, taxonomy, habitat use, adaptive types and biogeography. Asiatic Herpetological Research, Vol. 11, pp.110–131
- Thakur S. (2011) A note on snakes of Kanha National Park and surrounding areas. Reptile Rap (11), pp. 2-5
- Chikane S., Bhosale H. (2012) Reptiles of Kaas, Northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India, with notes on habitat preferences, abundances and
Information Listing > References
- Whitaker, R. and Captain, A .2004. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books.Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu,xiv+479, pls, text-figs.
Effect of vehicular traffic on wild animals in Sigur Plateau, Tamil Nadu, India
Jo
Journal of Threatened TaxaVertebrate fauna of the Chambal River Basin, with emphasis on the National Chambal Sanctuary, India
Jo
Journal of Threatened TaxaCEPF Western Ghats Special Series: Status of reptiles in Meghamalai and its environs, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India
Jo
Journal of Threatened TaxaRoad kill of animals by highway traffic in the tropical forests of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, southern India
Jo
Journal of Threatened TaxaNo Data
🐾 Taxonomy
| Root | Root |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Family | Colubridae |
| Genus | Dendrelaphis |
| Species | Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin 1803) |
📊 Temporal Distribution
📷 Related Observations
