Schokar's Bronzeback

Appearance

''D. schokari'' adult female: snout-to-vent length 51 cm ; tail 22.5 cm ; 161 ventrals ; 113 subcaudals, all divided; anal shield divided; 1 loreal scale ; 9 infralabials ; first infralabials touch at the mental groove; first sublabial touches infralabials 6 and 7 ; 9 supralabials , supralabials 5 and 6 touch the eye ; 2 postoculars ; temporal formula: 2+2 ; dorsal formula: 15-15-11; vertebral scales enlarged but smaller than the scales of the first dorsal row; width of the dorsal scale at the position of the middle ventral 2.1 mm; eye-diameter 4.9 mm ; distance anterior border of eye to posterior border of nostril 4.5 mm ; a dark postocular stripe starts behind the eye, covers only the lower quarter of the temporal region and ends at the edge of the jaw; a vertebral stripe, formed by yellow spots on the vertebral scales, starts behind the head and is no longer visible after the level of the 34th ventral scale; an interparietal spot is absent; a faint light ventrolateral line is present, not bordered by black lines; ground color brown, based on the color of unshed skin; supralabials and throat yellow; ventrals yellow anteriorly, yellowish-green posteriorly.:152:33–43:81–84:583

Habitat

''D. schokari'' inhabits forests and open areas of all climatic zones of the island of Sri Lanka, from lowlands to about 750 m above sea level. It is diurnal, and though a tree snake, it is observed foraging on land as well, in search of its prey, which consist of frogs, lizards, geckos, skinks, insects and also eggs of small birds. It can make long jumps among trees if necessary while chasing its prey. It can be distinguished easily from other ''Dendrelaphis'' species by having a cream-colored spotted line on its olive green dorsum from neck to mid fore body along the spine.