NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Green treesnake
Dendrelaphis calligaster (Günther, 1867)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
A Northern Tree Snake in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia
Scole01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Dendrelaphis calligaster, also called green tree snake, northern green tree-snake, and northern tree snake, is a colubrid snake native to New Guinea, Australia, and Solomon Islands. It is a slender, large-eyed, non-venomous, diurnal snake, which grows up to 1.2 m in length and is greenish, brown, or greyish above with a cream or yellow belly.
This common snake is harmless, and readily recognised due to its cream to yellow belly and pronounced wide dark facial stripe passing across the eye.
Wikipedia contributors, Dendrelaphis calligaster; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:47:34.674390+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dendrelaphis calligaster (Günther, 1867)
- Name authority
- (Günther, 1867)
- Common name
- Green treesnake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Dendrelaphis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyColubridae
- genusDendrelaphis
- speciesDendrelaphis calligaster (Günther, 1867)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dendrelaphis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ashok’s bronzeback tree snakeDendrelaphis ashoki Vogel & Van Rooijen, 2011 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Boulenger's BronzebackDendrelaphis bifrenalis (Boulenger, 1890) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gore's BronzebackDendrelaphis biloreatus Wall, 1908 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dendrelaphis caudolineolatus (Günther, 1869) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Western Ghats Bronze backDendrelaphis chairecacos (Boie, 1827) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sulu BronzebackDendrelaphis flavescens Gaulke, 1994 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Montane treesnakeDendrelaphis gastrostictus (Boulenger, 1894) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Giri’s bronzebackDendrelaphis girii Vogel & Van Rooijen, 2011 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Large-eyed BronzebackDendrelaphis grandoculis (Boulenger, 1890) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Haas’s Bronzeback snakeDendrelaphis haasi Van Rooijen & Vogel, 2008 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dendrelaphis hollinrakei Lazell, 2002 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dendrelaphis inornatus Boulenger, 1897 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Dendrelaphis papuensis Boulenger, 1895 Boulenger, 1895 | ambiguous synonym |
| Dendrelaphis schlenckeri Ogilby, 1898 Ogilby, 1898 | synonym |
| Dendrophis calligastra Günther, 1867 Günther, 1867 | synonym |
| Dendrophis darnleyensis Macleay, 1877 Macleay, 1877 | synonym |
| Dendrophis katowensis Macleay, 1877 Macleay, 1877 | synonym |
| Dendrophis salomonis Günther, 1872 Günther, 1872 | synonym |
| Dendrophis calligastra keiensis Mertens, 1926 Mertens, 1926 | ambiguous synonym |
| Dendrophis aruensis Doria, 1874 Doria, 1874 | synonym |
| Ahaetulla calligastra | synonym |
| Dendrophis calligastra distinguendus Meise & Hennig, 1932 Meise & Hennig, 1932 | synonym |
| Dendrophis calligaster Boulenger, 1894 Boulenger, 1894 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Dendrelaphis&species=calligaster Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:34M32. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.