Elegant Bronzeback

Fascinating facts about the Elegant Bronzeback

• With 48 sibling species in its genus, the elegant bronzeback is part of a surprisingly crowded club of vine snakes that together span five different genera.
• Unlike many snakes that hide on the ground, this tree-dweller spends every daylight hour high in the canopy, hunting lizards among the leaves.
• It calls the lowland forests of southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and Java home, but never ventures above 600 m (about 2,000 ft) in altitude.
• When it reproduces, the female lays eggs rather than giving live birth.
• Although lizards make up the bulk of its menu, the occasional frog joins the buffet, showing the snake’s flexible hunting strategy in the treetops.

At a glance

About the Elegant Bronzeback

The elegant bronzeback, Dendrelaphis formosus, is native to southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and Java, inhabiting lowland forests up to elevations of 600 m (2,000 ft). It belongs to the genus Dendrelaphis, which contains 48 other described species, and is a member of the vine-snake subfamily Ahaetuliinae closely related to Chrysopelea. The snake is diurnal, fully arboreal, and oviparous. It mainly feeds on lizards and occasionally on frogs.

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