mtDNA is only inherited maternally and it does not undergo recombination which means that you have your mom's mtDNA unchanged. Everyone has mtDNA not just females. This makes it an extremely reliable tool for tracing a lineage. That is why it is used so commonly.

If the males migrate out then I should find males with their mothers line outside of the "populations boundaries" (I say this very loosely as I do not know what the boundaries are, I just know where I find snakes and where I do not), however that is not the case. The populations are distinct, and independent, and I have data that spans over 20 years, so I am pretty sure multiple generations are represented.

You are banking on the "likelyhood" of geneflow???? Please qualify that? What does that mean and How can you say such a thing without evidence? Also how do you know that a specific "look/color/pattern" has anything to do with a given locality or geneflow? Where is the proof? How do you know it is not more time(geological)/habitat specific?

Maybe all you locality purists ought to start including time periods with your locality info. You know like these are the 90's Christmas mt. Alterna's and so on. It would have much more meaning then and you could have a timeline to go with it and see how the lines change.
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"Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew!" Charlie Papazian

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