biostudies-literatureUnknown118(14)Gippet JMWThe pet trade has become a multibillion-dollar global business, with tens of millions of animals traded annually. Pets are sometimes released by their owners or escape, and can become introduced outside of their native range, threatening biodiversity, agriculture, and health. So far, a comprehensive analysis of invasive species traded as pets is lacking. Here, using a unique dataset of 7,522 traded vertebrate species, we show that invasive species are strongly overrepresented in trade across mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. However, it is unclear whether this occurs because, over time, pet species had more opportunities to become invasive, or because invasive species have a greater commercial success. To test this, we focused on the emergent pet trade in ants, which is too rProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of Americae2016337118https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8040636biostudies-literatureInvasiveness is linked to greater commercial success in the global pet trade.PMC8040636Bertelsmeier CGippet JMWfalseInvasiveness is linked to greater commercial success in the global pet trade.The pet trade has become a multibillion-dollar global business, with tens of millions of animals traded annually. Pets are sometimes released by their owners or escape, and can become introduced outside of their native range, threatening biodiversity, agriculture, and health. So far, a comprehensive analysis of invasive species traded as pets is lacking. Here, using a unique dataset of 7,522 traded vertebrate species, we show that invasive species are strongly overrepresented in trade across mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. However, it is unclear whether this occurs because, over time, pet species had more opportunities to become invasive, or because invasive species have a greater commercial success. To test this, we focused on the emergent pet trade in ants, which is too r2021-01-01T00:00:00Z2021 Apr2026-05-09T05:46:08.224Z2022-02-11T11:09:23.844ZS-EPMC80406363375355710.1073/pnas.2016337118