''Dendrelaphis wickrorum'', commonly known as the Wickramasinghes bronzeback, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose num ...

snake

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Etymology

The specific name ''wickrorum'' is in honor of prominent herpetologist L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and his wife Nethu Wickramasinghe for their remarkable contributions to the field of herpetology in Sri Lanka. It was formerly considered to be ''

Dendrelaphis bifrenalis ''Dendrelaphis bifrenalis'', also called Boulenger's bronzeback, Boulenger's bronze-back, and Travancore bronze-brown snake, is a colubrid snake native to Eastern Ghats of Southern India and Sri Lanka. It was first described by George Albert ...

.''

Taxonomy

The species is sympatric with other bronzeback species: '' D. sinharajensis'', '' D. schokari'' and '' D. caudolineolatus'' in the wet zone. It was formerly confused with ''

,'' but the dry-zone populations of ''Dendrelaphis bifrenalis'' are the real ones, and the wet-zone populations are ''Dendrelaphis wickrorum''.

Description

The largest specimen in the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

is a female measuring in total length, whereas the males are shorter, up to . Eyes are slightly larger than more common bronzeback species, ''Dendrelaphis bifrenalis''. A temporal stripe stopping just beyond the neck and a ventrolateral stripe continuing up to the tail. It has a divided nasal. Dorsally olive green and ventrally brownish yellow snake. There is a yellow colour longitudinal ventro-lateral line starts from anterior body continues until tail. Head dark olive green dorsally. A black stripe runs from posterior nasal across eye until the neck.

Distribution

The snake is found from forest areas of Pundaluoya, Kuda-Waskaduwa, Pinwatta-Panadura and Labugama.

Ecology

Diurnal and predominantly arboreal that hunts in sub-canopy and the understory.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q96376195 wickrorum Snakes of Asia Reptiles of Sri Lanka Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Reptiles described in 2020