Phylogeography of the reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus ssp.): Conservation implications for the worlds' most traded snake species.

ABSTRACT: As an important economic natural resource in Southeast Asia, reticulated pythons (Malayopython reticulatus ssp.) are primarily harvested from the wild for their skins-which are prized in the luxury leather goods industry. Trade dynamics of this CITES Appendix II listed species are complex and management approaches on the country or regional level appear obscure. Little is known about the actual geographic point-of-harvest of snakes, how genetic diversity is partitioned across the species range, how current harvest levels may affect the genetic viability of populations, and whether genetic structure could (or should) be accounted for when managing harvest quotas. As an initial survey, we use mitochondrial sequence data to define the broad-scale geographic structure of genetic diversity acro

SUBMITTER: Murray-Dickson G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5560690 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature