In presenting the common names of reptiles, and suggesting new ones, it has been the objective to accept only globally unique names.
Many species have local common names which work out fine locally, but may lead to confusion when seen in a global perspective.
In Europe, for instance, most people would know that "Adder", "Viper", "Common Adder", or "Common Viper" refers to Vipera berus,
but these names are not unique and could refer to many other species, so Vipera berus is called "Northern Eurasian Viper" herein.
Some names have been harmonized with others to emphasize which genus the species belongs to.
For instance, the genus Dendrelaphis have variously been called "Bronzebacks", "Bronzeback Tree Snakes", "Bronzy Tree Snakes", or simply "Tree Snakes".
In this website, the genus is called "Bronzebacks" to reflect what now seems to be the most widely accepted common name.
All species which did not already have a common name containing "Bronzeback" have been renamed, e.g. "Solomon Islands Tree Snake" has been changed
to "Solomon Islands Bronzeback".
In some cases, a local name may even be misleading in a global perspective.
For instance, Dendrelaphis calligaster is known locally in Australia as "Northern Tree Snake", but compared with other members of the genus,
the word "Northern" is confusing, since Dendrelaphis calligaster is one of the two most southerly distributed species in the genus.
Hence, it is called "Northern Australian Bronzeback" herein.
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