Dendrelaphis formosus

Dendrelaphis formosus, commonly known as either the elegant bronzeback or beautiful bronzeback tree snake, is a snake species in the family Colubridae from Southeast Asia.

Dendrelaphis formosus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Ahaetuliinae
Genus:	Dendrelaphis
Species:	D. formosus
Binomial name
Dendrelaphis formosus (Boie, 1827)
Synonyms
Dendrophis formosa Boie, 1827

Taxonomy

Dendrelaphis formosus belongs to the genus Dendrelaphis, which contains 48 other described species.^[2]

Dendrelaphis is one of five genera belonging to the vine snake subfamily Ahaetuliinae, of which Dendrelaphis is most closely related to Chrysopelea, as shown in the cladogram below:^[3]

Ahaetuliinae	sharp‑nosed snakes Ahaetulla Proahaetulla Dryophiops broad‑nosed snakes Dendrelaphis Dendrelaphis marenae Dendrelaphis haasi Dendrelaphis pictus Dendrelaphis ngansonensis Dendrelaphis cyanochloris Dendrelaphis striatus Dendrelaphis formosus Dendrelaphis tristis Dendrelaphis subocularis Dendrelaphis schokari Dendrelaphis fuliginosus Dendrelaphis caudolineatus Chrysopelea

Distribution and habitat

Beautiful bronzeback tree snake in Gunung Mulu National Park

The beautiful bronzeback tree snake is native to southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia to the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java. It inhabits lowland forests up to elevations of 600 m (2,000 ft).^[1]

Behavior

The snake is diurnal and fully arboreal, and has oviparous reproduction.^[4] It mainly feeds on lizards, but occasionally also frogs.^[1]