Species Dendrelaphis punctulatus (Gray, 1826)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Leptophis punctulatus Gray, J.E. 1826. Reptilia. Appendix. pp. 424-434 in King, P.P. (ed.). Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia. Performed between the years 1818 and 1822; with Appendix B. London : John Murray Vol. 2 viii 637 pp., 9 pls. [Date published 15 Apr 1826: imprint 1827] [1827 on title page] [432].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.23.34, Careening Bay, WA [15°06'S 125°00'E].

  Type locality references:

  King, P.P. (ed.) 1826. Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia. Performed between the years 1818 and 1822. London : John Murray Vol. 1 451 pp. [Date published 15 Apr 1826: imprint 1827].
• Elaps lewisii 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 Grey, G. Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-west and Western Australia, during the years 1837, 38, and 39, under the authority of Her Majesty's Government. London : T. & W. Boone Vol. 2. [444].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, presumed lost, locality unknown.
• Dendrophis (Ahetula) olivacea Gray, J.E. 1842. Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. pp. 51-57 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [54].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) BMNH 1946.1.23.37, Port Essington, NT; BMNH 1946.1.23.41.
• Dendrophis prasinus Girard, C. 1858. Descriptions of some new reptiles, collected by the U.S. Exploring Expedition, under the command of Capt. C. Wilkes, U.S.N. Third Part. Including the species of ophidians, exotic to North America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 1857: 181-182 [181].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, not found, Australia.
• Dendrophis gracilis Macleay, W. 1875. Notes on a new species of Dendrophis from Cleveland Bay. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1: 15-16 [1877 on title page] [15].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) AM R31908–31910, Cleveland Bay, Townsville, QLD.
• Dendrophis breviceps Macleay, W. 1877. The ophidians of the Chevert Expedition. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2: 33-41 [1878 on title page] [37].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) AM R31911–13, Mawatta, Binaturi River (as Katow), Papua New Guinea.
• Dendrophis olivacea Macleay, W. 1878. Notes on a collection of snakes from Port Darwin. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2: 219-222 [220] [junior homonym of Dendrophis (Ahetula) olivacea Gray, 1842].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (presumed lost), Port Darwin, NT.
• Dendrophis bilorealis Macleay, W. 1884. Notes on some reptiles from the Herbert River, Queensland. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 8: 432-436 [1883 on title page] [435].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM R5942, Ripple Creek, Herbert River, QLD.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [212]

 

Generic Combinations

• Dendrelaphis punctulatus (Gray, 1826).

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Pine Creek (PCK), Sydney Basin (SB), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, closed forest, diurnal, low open woodland, mangrove, open forest, oviparous, predator, tall forest, tall open shrubland.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore.

 

General References

Cogger, H.G. & Lindner, D.A. 1974. Frogs and reptiles in fauna survey of the Port Essington District, Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory of Australia. In Frith, H.J. & Calaby, J.H. (eds) CSIRO Div. Wildl. Res. Tech. Pap. 28: 63–107. (natural history)

Covacevich, J. & Limpus, C. 1973. Two large winter aggregations of three species of tree-climbing snakes in south-eastern Queensland. Herpetofauna 6: 16-21 (aggregation)

Savage, J.M. 1952. Two centuries of confusion: the history of the snake name Ahaetulla. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 9: 203-216 (taxonomy)

Swan, G. 1975. Notes on the incubation and hatching of eggs of the green tree snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus). Herpetofauna 7: 18-20 (reproduction)

 

Common Name References

CAVS 2006. Census of Australian Vertebrate Species. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Common Tree Snake)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
07-Feb-2024		22-Aug-2013	MODIFIED
08-Mar-2011		08-Mar-2011	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)