Sawtooth-necked bronzeback facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sawtooth-necked bronzeback
Dendrelaphis nigroserratus from Kaeng Krachan National Park
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Dendrelaphis
Species:	D. nigroserratus
Binomial name
Dendrelaphis nigroserratus Vogel, van Rooijen & Hauser, 2012
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The Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback (scientific name: Dendrelaphis nigroserratus) is a type of snake. It's part of a group of snakes called bronzebacks (Dendrelaphis). You can find it in parts of western and southwestern Thailand and nearby southeastern Myanmar. Scientists have had a preserved example of this snake in the British Natural History Museum, London since the early 1900s.

For a long time, people thought this snake was the same as another type called Wall's Bronzeback. This was because they looked very similar. But in 2012, three scientists named Gernot Vogel, Johan Van Rooijen, and Sjon Hauser officially described it as its own unique species. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) even listed it as one of 367 important new species found in the Greater Mekong area between 2012 and 2013.

Scientists found that the Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback is quite different from Wall's Bronzeback. It has unique colors and special scales on its neck. Its most special feature is the sawtooth-shaped scales on the back of its neck. No other bronzeback snake has this! This unique feature is why it got its common name. These snakes are also usually bigger than Wall's Bronzebacks, with the largest one found measuring about 1.63 meters (over 5 feet) long.

The Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback is currently listed as "Least Concern" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (from 2014). This means it is not in danger of disappearing right now.

What Does the Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback Look Like?

The Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback is a fairly large snake compared to other bronzeback species. The first young female snake studied in detail, called the holotype, was found in 2011. It was about 42.8 centimeters (about 17 inches) long, and its tail was about 13.5 centimeters (about 5 inches) long. Its eyes are easy to see, measuring about 0.4 centimeters (less than half an inch) across.

The biggest Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback ever found was a female snake that was 1.63 meters (about 5 feet 4 inches) long. On average, these snakes are much longer than their close relatives, like Wall's Bronzeback.

Colors and Patterns of This Snake

The main color of the Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback's body is olive-brown. Its head and back have a greenish-bronze color. Its belly is usually yellowish or grayish-green.

You can tell this snake apart from other species by the thick black stripe behind its eye. This wide black stripe starts behind the eyes and goes onto the neck. On the neck, it breaks up into a pattern that looks like saw teeth. This is where the snake gets its common name, "sawtooth-necked." The scientific name nigroserratus also comes from this: niger means "black" in Latin, and serrare means "to saw." Further down its body, this pattern completely breaks into wide, slanted bars that slowly fade away. This special color pattern is not seen in any other snake species.

What Do Sawtooth-necked Bronzebacks Eat?

The Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback is a carnivore, which means it eats meat. It is known to eat frogs.

How Was the Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback Discovered?

The very first example of this snake was collected in the early 1900s in Myanmar (which was then called Burma). This snake was kept at the Natural History Museum in London. For many years, people thought it was just a Wall's Bronzeback because they looked so similar and lived in similar places. Even a detailed study in 2003 agreed with this idea.

However, scientists noticed small differences between the common Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback and the typical Wall's Bronzeback. Gernot Vogel, Johan Van Rooijen, and Sjon Hauser carefully studied these differences. They published their findings in 2012 in a scientific journal called Zootaxa. In their report, they officially reclassified the snake as a brand new species. The main example of this snake, called the holotype, is now kept at the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute in Bangkok, Thailand.

Where Do Sawtooth-necked Bronzebacks Live?

Besides the Mergui region in Myanmar, the Sawtooth-necked Bronzeback is found in specific areas near the border between Thailand and Myanmar. These areas include the Phetchaburi, Kanchanaburi, and Tak provinces in Thailand. It is most common in the southern part of Tak Province. Sadly, many of these snakes are hit by cars on roads there each year.

These snakes live in hill evergreen forests, usually at heights of over 800 meters (about 2,600 feet) above sea level. They like to be near streams and in thick bamboo patches.