Tom, that's the most interesting thing of all and one of the reasons I just posted what I did. It seems that all or almost all the snakes DNA tested and it's quite a few seem to be very closely related. I've read the paper but not being a geneticst it's a bit hard to peruse BUT the gist is they came from the same gene pool. Weird isn't it and the hotspots are in heavily patroled regulated areas. My daughter once picked a Tilansia up and was immediately told that she could have been arrested for tampering with nature [at Flamingo at night was the time] and made to put the air plant back on the ground. Of course over time it will die on the ground....It would not be easy for someone to dump an unwanted pet at Flamingo....



I wasn't aware of the DNA studies you're refering to but if all the pythons tested were from a wide geographical area and were related, I'd be curious what the conclusions the scientists involved in that study arrived at themselves!! I'm not a scientist and I may be way off base but I would think if that was the case, depending on the geographic distance between individual pythons, the length of time studied and the number of pythons tested, there's only 2 conclusions I can see. One: the tested pythons are spreading through natural breeding from a small but related initial group in the Everglades. This conclusion would have to look at natural barriers, if any. Two: The pythons are being helped by car rides from a related source. HMMMMMMM.......who would want to do that?? If I was a private person that wanted to release my pets into the Everglades, I don't think spreading the gene pool geoographically would be my concern.
Burke Reptiles


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Tom Burke

www.BurkeReptiles.com

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