>>WOW! That is amazing that they are that genetically homogeneous at those three loci. A little scary as well. That really surprises me!

Yeah, you wonder what would account for such low genetic divergence and if that (and maybe inbreeding depression) is a main reason for such poor captive breeding results, as opposed to captive husbandry methods.

"One possible explanation for the genetic uniformity
of a single population of M. boeleni would be a recent
bottleneck associated with paleoclimatological oscillations.
Montane reptiles may be particularly sensitive to rapid
climate change and alterations or fluctuations in environmental
conditions that shift populations up or down an
elevational gradient may lead to genetic bottlenecks as one
or a few individuals are able to colonize new climate
suitable elevations. In particular, multiple rapid oscillations
of climate may cause severe bottlenecks. Our results are
still surprising given that examination of genetic diversity
of populations that are resulted from postglacial recolonization
still show moderate haplotype diversity..."

Given the above possible scenario, I wonder if climate change could have selected for a particular genotype, whether the surviving individuals were closely related, genealogically, or not? It seems strange that a bottleneck could occur with ensuing inbreeding over such a broad geographic range.

Or perhaps there was a bottleneck and then more or less rapid dispersal?

It just begs more questions, doesn't it?!

"Current CITES status should remain in effect, with better regulations of exportation on specimens originating from Indonesia."

I have to say I agree with that, especially the latter part, given this study's results.

DR
Suboc.com

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