Coconut Tree Snake
Dendrelaphis calligaster
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassSquamata
- FamilyColubridae (Colubrid Snakes)
- GenusDendrelaphis (Bronzebacks)
- SpeciesDendrelaphis calligaster (Coconut Tree Snake)
About the Coconut Tree Snake
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. The specific name calligaster means "beautiful-bellied". In Australia, Dendrelaphis calligaster are found on the eastern side of the Cape York Peninsula (Queensland) as far south as Mackay. On the western side, their range is poorly mapped. They also occur on many of the Torres Strait Islands. On the New Guinea mainland, they are widespread at elevations below 1,150 m (3,770 ft) in both Indonesian and Papua New Guinean parts of the island. They occur also on many nearby islands. The Reptile Database also lists this species from the Solomons.
Dendrelaphis calligaster is primarily arboreal but can also forage on the ground. It can be found in rainforest... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Raja Ampat
New Guinea Bronzeback
Dendrelaphis lineolatus
Big-eyed Tree Snake
Dendrelaphis macrops
Brown Tree Snake
Boiga irregularis
Rainbow Ground Snake
Stegonotus iridis
Barred keelback
Tropidonophis doriae
Painted keelback
Tropidonophis picturatus
De Rooij's Groundsnake
Stegonotus derooijae
Bird's Head Peninsula Groundsnake
Stegonotus cucullatus
Many-scaled keelback
Tropidonophis multiscutellatus
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Coconut Tree Snake in Raja Ampat?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Coconut Tree Snake sighting in Raja Ampat, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Coconut Tree Snake in Raja Ampat?
September has the highest sighting rate for Coconut Tree Snake in Raja Ampat in our monthly data.