XVII. REMARKS ON THE INDIAN SPECIES 

 OF DENDROPHIS AND D E N D R E L A P H I S. 



By Colonel F. Wall, C.M.G., I.M.S. 



There has been so much confusion in the past over the identi- 

 fication of many of the species of Dendrophis and Dendrdaphis 

 that I appealed to Dr. Annandale lately to allow me to examine 

 all the specimens of these genera in the Indian Museum, and to 

 Mr. Spence to send me all the available specimens in the Bombay 

 Natural History Society's collection. 



When the Fauna of British India, Reptilia and Batrachia, 

 appeared in 1890 the snake now known as Dendrelaphis tristis was 

 not recognised as a separate species but included under the species 

 Dendrophis pictus. I^ater when the second volume of Boulenger's 

 Catalogue appeared in 1893 a clear distinction was made between 

 the two, but the available specimens in the Indian Museum and 

 Bombay collections had not been re-examined until I did so recently. 

 As a result of my examination of this material I have acquired 

 a great deal of information, and been able to correct the mis- 

 takes of earlier herpetologists. Among specimens labelled f ictus 

 in the Indian Museum I discovered many specimens of Dendrophis 

 gorei described by me {Bombay N.H. Jonrn. igio, p. 829), and 

 also of Dendrophis proarchus described by me {Bombay N. H. 

 Journ. 1910, p. 827). 



In addition to the information derived from the above collec- 

 tions I have revised all my own notes, and incorporated my obser- 

 vations during the last 26 j'ears, and I hope in the succeeding 

 remarks to bring the subject so far as the Indian species are con- 

 cerned up to date, and make the identification of these easil}-- 

 confused species easier for other workers in this field. 



Boulenger (Cat. Snakes, Brit Mus., Vol. II, 1893, pp. 77 and 

 87) separates the two genera on the posterior maxillary teeth. In 

 Dendrophis the last 3 or 4 are distinctly enlarged, and compressed. 

 In Dendrelaphis the posterior maxillary teeth though slightly more 

 trenchant are not enlarged, but if anything rather shorter than 

 the preceding teeth in the series. I have made a very critical 

 comparison of all mj^ skulls bone for bone, andean find no charac- 

 teristic other than the posterior maxillary teeth that distinguishes 

 the two genera. 



Genus Dendrophis. 

 Dendrophis caudolincolatus Gunther. 

 Gunther's Dendrophis (or Bronze Back). 



Dendrophis caudolineolatus, Boulenger, Cat., Vol. 11, p. 85 1 Ferguson, 

 Bomb. N.H. J., 1895, p. 72 ; Sarasin, Zool. Jahr., Jena, tQIO, p. 128. 



