I sent an e-mail to Mr. Rodda last week covering my concerns with the data used and subsequent conclusions reached in the study on the northern movement of the burmese pythons in Florida. Most of the concerns I expressed to him were also included in my Feb. 24th post on this forum. I received an e-mail back a few days later from Robert Reed who was one of the co-authors of the original paper, along with Mr. Rodda, that started this entire issue. He sent me a complete copy of the original study paper as it was accepted for publication on Feb. 12, 2008. The paper is 12 pages and does contain a significant amount of study data and references. Mr. Reed also sent me a lengthy response to the concerns that I had expressed in my previous e-mail to Mr. Rodda. After reading the original paper and Mr. Reed's response, I still see obvious errors in the logic they are using to base their conclusions on the ability of this sub-species of P. molurus to spread beyond the State of Florida. Having read over the paper and e-mail from Mr. Reed, I am in the process of drafting a response to the information supplied. I will post a copy of that response on this Forum after I have sent it to Mr. Rodda and Mr. Reed. A major critical issue is that this is a sub-species and genotype of P. molurus that these authors have very little physiological understanding of, or first hand experience with. Additionally, many of their conclusions are based on extreme northern latitude, genotypically isolated populations of both sub-species that would not apply to the pythons currently in the Everglades.



Kelly

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