Chrysopelea ornata (Shaw, 1802)

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 254-255

Chrysopelea ornata (Shaw, 1802) — Non-native; Introduced.

Golden Tree Snake

Singapore records.

Chrysopelea ornata —K. Lim & F. Lim, 1988a: 27 (Mandai Lake Road).—Sharma, 2007: 187.—Maury & M.-R. Low, 2015: 76 (Perahu Lane [LCK]).—Ng, 2017: 14 (Gardens by the Bay).— Charlton, 2020: 148.—E. Goh & Pek, 2022: 1 (Yio Chu Kang Road).—E. Goh & M. Loh, 2022: 1 (MacPherson).

Chrysopelea ornata ornatissima —Thomas & Boopal, 2014: 51 (Shenton Way).—J. Chua, 2021: 1 (Marina Bay).

Remarks. Earlier accounts of C. ornata in Singapore denote C. paradisi (e.g., Blanford 1881; Flower 1896; Sworder 1923), which was conventionally recognised as C. ornata . It was not until Smith (1943), that the name was used to refer to present-day C. ornata . Nine sightings of C. ornata were made in Singapore. The first was of one caught at Mandai Lake Road on 13 June 1988 ( Lim 1988b). The next eight were more recent, beginning with a dead specimen found at a construction site at Shenton Way on 14 May 2013 (Thomas & Boopal 2014), a live specimen found at Perahu Lane in LCK on 14 April 2015 ( Maury & Low 2015), another live specimen found at Gardens by the Bay on 1 January 2017 (Ng 2017), a dead specimen collected from OUTR on 20 September 2018, two snakes seen on 13 August 2021 at Gardens by the Bay, a gravid female caught entering a home along Yio Chu Kang Road on 21 March 2022 ( Goh & Pek 2022), and one photographed on the fence of a residential building on 16 April 2022 ( Goh & Loh 2022). Since C. ornata ranges from India and Sri Lanka eastwards to Indochina and south to northern Peninsular Malaysia ( Das 2010), it is believed the individuals in Singapore were either illegally imported pets or entered as stowaways on ornamental plants (Thomas & Boopal 2014; Maury & Low 2015). However, the authors of both these papers overlooked a relatively recent record of C. ornata taken from Endau-Rompin National Park, which expanded its distribution down to southern Peninsular Malaysia (Shahriza et al. 2012). Nonetheless, we consider the specimens from Singapore non-native given they were found at unnatural sites, particularly Gardens by the Bay, which was constructed in 2012 on reclaimed land.

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Old Upper Thomson Road : ZRC.2.7398 (20-Sep-2018); Shenton Way : ZRC.2.7022 (14-May-2013) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. No specimens.

Subfamily Natricinae Bonaparte, 1838 (1 species)

Genus Fowlea Theobald, 1868 (1 species)