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Cytonuclear discordance in the Florida Everglades invasive Burmese python (Python bivittatus) population reveals possible hybridization with the Indian python (P. molurus)

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

Invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) have been reproducing in the Florida Everglades since the 1980s. Introduction of the species was either due to unintentional escapes or intentional releases from snakes obtained through the commercial pet trade. Burmese pythons have caused a precipitous decline in small mammal populations in south Florida. To better understand the invasive population, two mitochondrial loci (mtDNA; 1398 bps) were sequenced on 426 snakes and 22 microsatellites were genotyped on 389 snakes. Concatenated cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase 1 mtDNA sequences produced six haplotypes with a nucleotide and haplotype diversity of π=0.002 and h=0.097, respectively. The dominant haplotype was highly divergent from the second most frequent haplotype (π =0.0388). The average number of microsatellite alleles and expected heterozygosity were NA = 5.50 and HE = 0.60, respectively. Nuclear Bayesian assignment tests supported two genetically distinct groups and an admixed group. The effective population size was lower than expected for a population of this size (Ne =315.1), but reflective of the overall low genetic diversity. Patterns for genetic diversity between mtDNA and microsatellites were disparate, indicating nuclear introgression of separate mtDNA stocks due to interbreeding among sympatric populations/stocks of P. bivittatus. Alternatively, hybridization between P. molurus and P. bivittatus may have occurred in native or captive populations. The introgression may have occurred in the native range, breeding of disparate stocks in the pet trade, or in the invasive habitat. The invasive Florida Burmese python sequences were similar to the published sequences identified as P. bivittatus and P. molurus, however the nuclear diversity was nearly half of that reported in wild populations sampled within the native range.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/77db06224ddabd243bee59fa43eb629b
Identifier USGS:5939b022e4b0764e6c5ec8fb
Data Last Modified 20200830
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id f1b179fc-c3ed-455d-9998-91db65a87cab
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -87.62,24.54,-80.02,31.0
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 3fe12c9e44d986afe2f7d92e57ece1c200b1d95ee3cd0b3998f59a04da87a2de
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -87.62, 24.54, -87.62, 31.0, -80.02, 31.0, -80.02, 24.54, -87.62, 24.54}

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