Distributed range & status
Found in lowlands & mid hills, wet & intermediate zones of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura, Yatiyantota, Sinharaja, Balangoda, Kotmale, Udugama, Ginigatchena, Kukulegala, Uragala, Hunuwela, Deniyaya. Also found in extreme southern portion of the western Ghats of southern India.
Scales
rostral |
|
frontal |
Shorter than the lateral scales. Similar to supra ocular. |
supraoculars |
Similar to frontal |
parietals |
|
prefrontals |
|
nasals |
Divided scale |
internasals |
2 |
loreals |
1 |
preoculars |
1 |
postoculars |
2 |
temporals |
(1+2) |
Supralabials |
8-9 (4 & 5 or 5 & 6 connects with the eye) |
mental |
|
infralabials |
|
sublinguals |
|
coastals |
|
ventrals |
149-175 Lateral ridge consist of a notch. |
anal |
Divided scale |
subcaudals |
119-129 divided with a lateral ridge |
Mid body is consisting of 13 rows of scales. posterially reduced its row nuber in to 9. vertebrals are clear & weakly enlarged.
Characteristics
Cylindrical, narrow, slender body is present with a dorso-ventrally flattened pear shaped head. The neck region is clear. Long & compressed snout is present. The tip of it is broad & rounded. The nostrils are present laterally & there rounded. Round pupil is present in large eyes. Prehensile tail is 1/3 of the body of the snake.
Colour
The dorsally bronze-olive or bronze-orange with the forehead pale green. The anterior of the body has oblique black streaks with a narrow temporal stripe. On top of this stripe it takes a bronze-brown colour & the lower part is cream color. Ventral body is grey or pale green. Last few ventral scales & the subcaudals have a black stripe running towards the tail.
Venom
These snakes are non poisonous.
Dentition
Data not found.
Behavior
They are diurnal & arboreal. There are also found terrestrial when finding food & in secondary forests, home gardens. These are very active snakes & do not get panicked easily. When exited they flatten the anterior part of the body. Ventral keels help them to climb trees.
Breeding
These are oviparous snakes. They lay eggs in tree hollows. 3-6 clutches of long eggs are laid by them at a time in June.
Growth
Adult length is 650-950mm.
Food
Diet consists of lizards, geckos & tree frogs.
Identification
Dendrelaphis caudolineolatus differ in having mid body consisting of 13 rows of scales & subcaudals have a black stripe running towards the tail from other Dendrelaphis spp.
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