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Dendrelaphis punctulatus (GRAY, 1826)

IUCN Red List - Dendrelaphis punctulatus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Ahaetuliinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Green Tree Snake, Common Tree Snake
G: Bronzenatter 
SynonymLeptophis punctulatus GRAY 1826: 432
Ahaetulla punctulatus GRAY 1827
Elaps lewisii GRAY 1841: 444
Dendrophis (Ahetula) olivacea GRAY 1842: 54
Dendrophis prasinus GIRARD 1858: 181
Dendrophis gracilis MACLEAY 1875: 15
Dendrophis breviceps MACLEAY 1877: 33
Dendrophis olivacea MACLEAY 1878:220 (non Dendrophis (A.) olivacea GRAY)
Dendrophis bilorealis MACLEAY 1884: 435
Dendrophis punctulatus — FISCHER 1884: 49
Dendrophis punctulatus — BOULENGER 1894: 82
Dendrophis punctulatus — GADOW 1909: 618
Dendrophis punctulatus — DE ROOIJ 1917: 63
Dendrelaphis punctulata — COGGER 1983: 211
Dendrelaphis punctulatus — MATTISON 1995: 100
Dendrelaphis punctulata — COGGER 2000: 621
Dendrelaphis punctulatus — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Dendrelaphis punctulatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 220
Dendrelaphis punctulatus — ROOIJEN et al. 2015: 50 
DistributionPapua New Guinea, Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales)

Type locality: Careening Bay, 15°06'S, 125°00'E, W. A.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.23.34
Holotype: lost (presumed), from unknown locality [Elaps lewisii].
Syntypes: (probable), BMNH 1946.1.23.31, BMNH 1946.1.23.41, ?BMNH 1964.1514 from Port Essington, N. T. and N coast of Australia [Dendrophis (Ahetula) olivacea]
Holotype: USNM 5535, given as “unknown”, from Australia, in Cogger 1983 [Dendrophis prasinus]
Syntypes: AM R31908-31910, from Cleveland Bay, Townsville, Qld. [Dendrophis gracilis]
Syntypes: AM R31911-13, from Mawatta, Binaturi River (as Katow), Papua New Guinea [Dendrophis breviceps]
Syntypes: lost (presumed), from Port Darwin, N. T. [Dendrophis olivacea]
Holotype: AM R5942, from Ripple Creek, Herbert River, Qld. [Dendrophis bilorealis] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (894 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy and type data after COGGER 1983.

Illustration in Schmida (2000).

Subspecies: Dendrelaphis punctulatus striolatus (PETERS 1867) has been elevated to full species status.

Behavior: diurnal

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018) 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin punctula (small spot), plus the suffix -atus (having), in reference to the apical pits on the body scales. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1993. STANDARDIZED CRITERIA FOR THE RECOGNITION OF REPRODUCTIVE MODES IN SQUAMATE REPTILES. Herpetologica 49 (1): 118-132 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. British Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London, xi, 382 pp. - get paper here
  • Buden, Donald W.; Kevin de Queiroz, Johan Van Rooijen, Derek W. Stinson, Gary J. Wiles, and Sabrino Robert 2014. New Information and Reappraisals Concerning Some Alien and Indigenous Snake Records from the Federated States of Micronesia and the Mariana Islands. Pacific Science Apr 2014, Vol. 68, No. 2: 287-293. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • de Rooij, N. DE 1917. The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Il. Ophidia. Leiden (E. J. Brill), xiv + 334 S. - get paper here
  • Fischer, J. G. 1884. Herpetologische Bemerkungen. Abh. Nat. Ver. Hamburg 8 (2): 43-51 (3-11)
  • Gadow, H. 1909. Amphibia and Reptilia. MacMillan, London, 668 pp. - get paper here
  • Girard,C. 1858. Descriptions of some new Reptiles, collected by the US. Exploring Expedition under the command of Capt. Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Third Part. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 9: 181-182 [1857] - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1826. Reptilia. Appendix in: King, P. P. Narrative of a survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia performed between the years 1818 and 1822. London: John Murray 2: 424-434
  • Gray, J. E. 1842. Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. Zoological Miscellany 2: 51—57 (London: Treuttel, Würtz & Co) - get paper here
  • Gray, J.E. 1841. A catalogue of the species of reptiles and Amphibia hitherto described as inhabiting Australia, with a description of some new species from Western Australia. Appendix E, pp. 422-449. In: G. Grey, Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in Northwest T. and W. Boone, London. Vol. 2: 422-449 + plates - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Iskandar, Djoko T. and Walter R. Erdelen 2006. Conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Indonesia: issues and problems. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 4 (1): 60-87 - get paper here
  • Macleay, W. 1875. Notes on a new species of Dendrophis from Cleveland Bay. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 1: 15-16 [1877 on title page] - get paper here
  • Macleay, W. 1877. The ophidians of the Chevert Expedition. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 2: 33-41 (given as 1878 on title page but published in 1877) - get paper here
  • Macleay, W. 1878. Notes on a collection of snakes from Port Darwin. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 2: 219-222 - get paper here
  • Macleay, W. 1884. Notes on some reptiles from the Herbert River, Queensland. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 8: 432-436 - get paper here
  • Mattison, Chris 1995. The Encyclopedia of Snakes. New York: Facts on File, 256 pp.
  • Mattison, Chris 2007. The New Encyclopedia of Snakes. Princeton University Press
  • Mayer, M. 2014. Von Schlangen, Kröten und Krokodilen im tropischen „Top End“ Australiens. Ein Reise- und Studienbericht. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (110): 76-85
  • Mehrtens, J.M. 1987. Living snakes of the world in color. Sterling Publ. Co., hic., New York, NY: 480 pp.
  • O’Shea,M. 1996. A Guide to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea. Independent Publishing, Port Moresby, xii + 239 pp. - get paper here
  • Parkin, T., Jolly, C. J., de Laive, A., & von Takach, B. 2020. Snakes on an urban plain: Temporal patterns of snake activity and human–snake conflict in Darwin, Australia. Austral Ecology - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1867. Herpetologische Notizen. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1867 (Januar): 13-37 - get paper here
  • Rooijen, J. van, G. Vogel & R. Somaweera 2015. A revised taxonomy of the Australo-Papuan species of the colubrid genus Dendrelaphis (Serpentes: Colubridae). Salamandra 51 (1): 33-56 - get paper here
  • Schmida, G. 2000. Exkursionen bei Mackay und Proserpine. DATZ 53 (9): 8-12
  • Somaweera, R. 2009. Snakes of Darwin. Poster, University of Sydney
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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