Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1854)

Nguyen, Tan Van, Brakels, Peter, Maury, Nathanael, Sudavanh, Somchit, Pawangkhanant, Parinya, Idiiatullina, Sabira, Lorphengsy, Sengvilay, Inkhavilay, Khamla, Suwannapoom, Chatmongkon & Poyarkov, Nikolay A., 2020, New herpetofaunal observations from Laos based on photo records, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 248) 14 (2), pp. 218-249 : 233-234

Gonyosoma prasinum (Blyth, 1854)

Green Tree Snake ( Fig. 7E)

One adult individual of G. prasinum was observed by P. Brakels and N. Maury on 24 August 2019 in Xay District , Oudomxai Province (20°39.598’N, 102°04.241’E; elevation 750 m asl) .

Morphological characters of the individual from Oudomxai Province agreed well with the descriptions of Smith (1943), Stuart and Heatwole (2008), and Chan-ard et al. (2015). The photographed individual ( Fig. 7E) agrees with the diagnosis of G. prasinum in the following characters: body slender, elongated; tail long; head slightly distinct from neck; eye moderate in size; pupil round; nasal divided; loreal present, not entering the orbit; 1 preocular; 2 postoculars; 2 anterior temporals; 3 posterior temporals; 9 supralabials, 1 st and 2 nd in contact with the nasal 2 nd and 3 rd in contact with the loreal, 4 th –6 th entering orbit, 6 th and 8 th largest; dorsal scales faintly keeled; ventrals 193; cloacal scale divided; subcaudals 100; divided. Coloration of dorsum green with bicolored bluish-yellow ventrolateral stripe; skin between dorsal scales with blue and dark reticulations; dorsal surface of tail light brown; tongue reddish brown; ventral surfaces light yellow-green with some irregular blue spots, underside of tail yellowish.

Ecological notes. The individual was observed at ca. 2200 h in the vegetation at a height of 4 m above the ground coiled in a sleeping position. The surrounding habitat was mixed dry evergreen hill forest.

Distribution. In Laos, this species has been previously recorded only from Champasak Province (Stuart and Heatwole 2008). This is the second record from Laos as well as the first record from the northwest of the country in Oudomxai Province. Elsewhere, this species has been reported from India, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Malaysia ( Uetz et al. 2020).