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Dendrelaphis kopsteini VOGEL & VAN ROOIJEN, 2007

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Chrysopeleinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Kopstein’s Bronzeback Snake 
SynonymDendrelaphis kopsteini VOGEL & VAN ROOIJEN 2007
Ahaetulla formosa — TAYLOR 1965: 814 (non Dendrophis formosus BOIE 1827)
Dendrelaphis formosus — FLOWER 1897: 883
Dendrelaphis formosus — TWEEDIE 1983: 63, 154, (plate 4)
Dendrelaphis formosus — LIM & LEE 1989: 53
Dendrelaphis formosus — VOGEL 1990: 10
Dendrelaphis formosus — LIM & LIM 1992: 64
Dendrelaphis formosus — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 337 (Abb. 246)
Dendrelaphis formosus — ZIEGLER & VOGEL 1999: 206
Dendrelaphis formosus — PAUWELS et al. 2000: 141
Dendrelaphis formosus — NUTPHAND 2001: 148
Dendrophis formosa — FRITH 1977: 278 (?)
Dendrelaphis formosus — FLOWER 1899: 605, 660 (part.; non Dendrophis formosus BOIE, 1827)
Dendrelaphis formosus — INGER & VORIS 2001: 889 (non D. formosus BOIE, 1827)
Dendrelaphis formosus — ISKANDAR & COLIJN 2002: 53 (non D. formosus BOIE, 1827)
Dendrelaphis kopsteini — LIVIGNI 2013: 396
Dendrelaphis kopsteini — WALLACH et al. 2014: 218
Dendrelaphis kopsteini — POYARKOV et al. 2023 
DistributionThailand, W Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo)

Type locality: “fleuve Endau, état de Johore”, Endau river, State of Johore, Federation of Malaysia.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 1962.1052, adult female (figs. 9–12). Collected by Pierre Pfeffer, unknown date. Paratypes: MNHN-RA 1893.0147, MNHN-RA 1962.1051 and MNHN-RA 1997.6779. Other paratypes at QSMI, ZMH, RMNH, ZSM 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A rather stout species of the Dendrelaphis formosus group, with 15 dorsal scale rows at mid-body, 167-181 ventral scales, 140-154 subcaudal scales, 2 supralabials touching the eye and a first sublabial that touches 2 infralabials. The eye is rather large. The vertebral scales are larger than the lowest dorsal row. There is one loreal plate. A black postocular stripe covers only the lower half of the temporal region and ends at the rear of the jaw. Vertebral scales with a broad black posterior margin. It differs from all other species of this genus by the red colour that is visible in life on the skin between the scales of the first part of the body.
 
CommentSynonymy after VOGEL & VAN ROOIJEN 2007.

Behavior: diurnal

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018) 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Felix Kopstein (1893-1939). 
References
  • Baker, Nick 2020. Predation of brown tree skink by a Kopstein’s bronzeback snake. SINGAPORE BIODIVERSITY RECORDS 2020: 13-14 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1993. STANDARDIZED CRITERIA FOR THE RECOGNITION OF REPRODUCTIVE MODES IN SQUAMATE REPTILES. Herpetologica 49 (1): 118-132 - get paper here
  • Chan-ard, T., Parr, J.W.K. & Nabhitabhata, J. 2015. A field guide to the reptiles of Thailand. Oxford University Press, NY, 352 pp. [see book reviews by Pauwels & Grismer 2015 and Hikida 2015 for corrections] - get paper here
  • Das, I. 2012. A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of South-East Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford J, ohn Beaufoy Publishing - get paper here
  • FIGUEROA, ALEX; MARTYN E.Y. LOW, KELVIN K.P. LIM 2023. Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution. Zootaxa 5287 (1): 001–378 - get paper here
  • Flower,S.S. 1899. Notes on a second collection of reptiles made in the Malay Peninsula and Siam, from November 1896 to September 1898, with a list of the species recorded from those countries. Proc. zool. Soc. London 1899: 600-697 - get paper here
  • Frith,C.B. 1977. A survey of the snakes of Phuket island and adjacent mainland areas of peninsular Thailand. Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. (Bangkok) 26: 263-316
  • Grismer, L.L. 2011. Amphibians and reptiles of the Seribuat Archipelago. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 239 pp.
  • Hallermann J 2025. A second addition to the herpetological type catalogue of the Zoological Museum of Hamburg (ZMH). Evolutionary Systematics 9(2): 271-284 - 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
  • Inger, R.F. & Voris, H. K. 2001. The biogeographical relations of the frogs and snakes of Sundaland. Journal of Biogeography 28: 863-891
  • Iskandar, Djoko T. and Colijn, E. 2002. A checklist of Southeast Asian and New Guinean Reptiles. Part I: Serpentes. Biodiversity Conservation Project, Jakarta, 195 pp. [2001]
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  • LiVigni, F. (ed.) 2013. A Life for Reptiles and Amphibians, Volume 1. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 495 pp. - get paper here
  • Manthey, U. & Grossmann, W. 1997. Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 512 pp. (ISBN 3-931587-12-6) - get paper here
  • McCleary, Ryan James Robert; Reyla Ichtiarani 2015. Predation of a non-native changeable lizard (Calotes versicolor) by the native Kopstein’s bronzeback snake (Dendrelaphis kopsteini) in Singapore. Herpetology Notes 8: 303-304 - get paper here
  • Nutphand, W. 2001. Patterns of the Snakes of Thailand. Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Co., Ltd, Bangkok, 319 pp [see extensive review and corrections in The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University 4(1): 47-80]
  • ONN, CHAN KIN; L. LEE. GRISMER, DIONYSIUS S. SHARMA, DAICUS BELABUT, and NORHAYATI AHMA 2009. New herpetofaunal records for Perlis State Park and adjacent areas. Malayan Nature Journal 61 (4): 255 - 262
  • Pauwels,O.S.G. et al. 2000. Herpetological investigations in Phang-Nga Province, southern Peninsular Thailand, with a list of reptile species and notes on their biology. Dumerilia 4 (2): 123-154 - get paper here
  • Poyarkov, Nikolay A.; Tan Van Nguyen, Evgeniy S. Popov,Peter Geissler, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Thy Neang, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Natalia B. Ananjeva, and Nikolai L. Orlov 2023. RECENT PROGRESS IN TAXONOMIC STUDIES, BIOGEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS, AND REVISED CHECKLIST OF REPTILES IN INDOCHINA. Russian Journal of Herpetology 30 (5): 255-576 (also as vol 28 (3A): 1 – 110 [2021]) - get paper here
  • Rooijen, J. van & Vogel, G. 2008. Contributions to a review of the Dendrelaphis pictus complex (Serpentes: Colubridae) – 1. Description of a sympatric species. Amphibia-Reptilia 29: 101-115 - get paper here
  • Rooijen, J. van & Vogel, G. 2008. A new species of Dendrelaphis (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Java, Indonesia. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 56 (1): 189-197 - get paper here
  • Stuebing, R.B., Inger, R.F. & Lardner, B. 2014. A field guide to the snakes of Borneo, second edition. Natural history Publications (Borneo)
  • Taylor,E.H. 1965. The serpents of Thailand and adjacent waters. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 45 (9): 609-1096 - get paper here
  • Teo, R.C.H. & N.J. Thomas 2019. Updated Inventory of Amphibians, Reptiles and Mammals of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore. Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 71(Suppl. 1):145-183; doi: 10.26492/gbs71(suppl.1).2019-06 - get paper here
  • TEYNIÉ, ALEXANDRE; PATRICK DAVID, & ANNEMARIE OHLER 2010. Note on a collection of Amphibians and Reptiles from Western Sumatra (Indonesia), with the description of a new species of the genus Bufo. Zootaxa 2416: 1–43 - get paper here
  • Thompson, C. & Thompson, T. 2008. First contact in the Greater Mekong - new species discoveries. WWF, 40 pp. - get paper here
  • Tweedie, M. W. F. 1983. The snakes of Malaya. Third edition. Singapore National Printers (Pte) Ltd., Singapore. 167 pp.
  • Vogel, G. & J. VAN ROOIJEN 2007. A new species of Dendrelaphis (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Southeast Asia. Zootaxa 1394: 25-45 - get paper here
  • Vogel, Gernot 1990. Die Bronzenattern Thailands. Herpetofauna 12 (65): 10-16 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Ziegler, T. & G. VOGEL 1999. On the knowledge and specific status of Dendrelaphis ngansonensis (BOURRET, 1935) (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae). Russ. J. Herpetol. 6 (3): 199-208 - get paper here
 
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