
Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4

Fig 5
|
Family : COLUBRIDAE
Species: Chrysopelea ornata
Maximum Size : 1.4 metres
Chrysopelea ornata
(Golden Tree Snake, Golden Flying Snake) is a wide-ranging species known to
occur in parts of India, southern China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and northern parts of Peninsular
Malaysia. It does not occur in the Philippines (Emerson Sy, pers. comm.)
Two subspecies are recognised, with the SE Asia form being Chrysopelea
ornata ornatissima.
In Singapore it is now an established, non-native snake that has been found in
semi-urban parks and secondary scrubland with scattered trees.
It is diurnal and fully arboreal in habits, and can navigate with ease along
slender branches. The examples in Figures 1 to 3 were encountered in coastal
forest on a rocky headland in Krabi, southern Thailand, around noon time.
Its diet comprises lizards, bats, rodents, birds and other snakes (Das,
2010).
Its background colour is greenish-yellow, which is patterned with
closely-spaced oblique dark bars.
This snake may be confused with the
Paradise Tree Snake (Chrysopelea
paradisi), particularly the dominant yellow/black form of the latter, but
it can be distinguished from C. paradisi by the presence of
narrow, horizontal black lines on the dorsal scales (see Fig 5).
Figs 1 to 3 : Images of two specimens of the subspecies Chrysopelea
ornata ornatissima in coastal forest at Krabi, southern Thailand.
Figs 4 and 5 : Close-ups of an example found in the Neo Tiew (Kranji) area
of Singapore where the species has become established as a non-native. Note
the horizontal, thin, black line on the dorsal scales; this feature helps to
distinguish the species from the Paradise
Tree Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi).
References :
Das, I., 2004. Lizards of Borneo - A Pocket Guide. Natural History
Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd.
Manthey U., Grossmann W., 1997. Amphibien und Reptilien Sudostasiens. Natur
und Tier - Verlag.
|