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Dendrelaphis caudolineatus (GRAY, 1834)

IUCN Red List - Dendrelaphis caudolineatus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Ahaetuliinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Gray Bronzeback, Striped Bronzeback
G: Gestreifte Bronzenatter 
SynonymAhætula caudolineata GRAY in GRAY & HARDWICKE 1834
Leptophis caudalineatus CANTOR 1847
Dendrophis sex lineata in DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854
Dendrophis octo-lineata DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 201
Dendrophis octolineatus — BLEEKER 1858
Dendrophis caudilineata [sic] — STOLICZKA 1870: 194
Dendrophis caudolineatus — STOLICZKA 1873
Dendrophis caudolineata — GÜNTHER 1858
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus — BOULENGER 1890
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus — BOULENGER 1894: 85
Dendrelaphis modestus — BOULENGER 1894: 91
Dendrophis caudolineatus caudolineatus — MEISE & HENNIG 1932
Ahaetulla caudolineata — SMITH 1943
Ahaetulla caudolineata caudolineata — HAAS 1950
Ahaetulla caudolineata — TWEEDIE 1950
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus caudolineatus — LEVITON 1968
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus caudolineatus — GAULKE 1999
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 336
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus — COX et al. 1998: 70
Dendrelaphis caudolineata — SHARMA 2004
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus — VAN ROOIJEN & VOGEL 2012
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 216
Dendrelaphis caudolineatus — ATTHANAGODA et al. 2025 
DistributionWest Malaysia (incl. Pulau Pangkor), Thailand, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Natuna islands), Singapore

Type locality: Malay Peninsula (designated by Meise & Hennig 1932)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: unlocated, (not in BMNH fide Lang in litt.) (fide V. Wallach, pers. comm.)
Holotype: ZMH [effrenis] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 937 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: most subspecies have been elevated to full species by VAN ROOIJEN & VOGEL 2012.

Type species: Ahaetulla caudolineata GRAY 1834 is the type species of the genus Dendrelaphis BOULENGER 1890: 339.

Synonymy: Ahaetulla caudolineolata (GÜNTHER 1869) is a separate species (cited by SMITH 1943: 247 and others). WALL (1921) lists Dendrophis caudolineatus as a synonym of D. caudolineolatus. Kaiser et al. 2013 rejected the subgeneric names Downieea Hoser 2012, Macmillanus Hoser 2012, Charlespiersonserpens Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected its use instead of Dendrelaphis.

Key: Jiang et al. 2020 provide a key to the species of Dendrelaphis in China. Danushka et al. 2020 provide a key to the species of Sri Lanka.

Behavior: diurnal

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018)

Distribution: Not in India fide I. Das (pers. comm., 22 Dec 2011). A record from Micronesia (Saipan) is actually Dendrelaphis philippinensis. However, D. caudolineatus may have been introduced to India (Gujarat) from Indonesia (Patel et al. 2019). Not in the Philippines fide Leiton et al. 2018, although reported from there, e.g. by Taylor 1922. Not in Java, although reported from there (de Lang 2017).

Similar species: Dendrelaphis thasuni 
EtymologyThe origin of the name was not given by Gray, but Latin cauda = tail, and linea = line, possibly named after the longitudinal lines reaching from head to tail in this species. 
References
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