Big, Invasive Hybrid Pythons Are Being Found in Florida

[Ax01]

ok we all know about the widespread invasion of Burms in the Everglades. but there are other big species lurking around as well. that includes the Indian Rock Python. researchers have found genes of the Rock Python in 13 of 400 specimens. why is this relevant? they fear that these hybrids will be more adaptable and harmful to the already damaged ecosystem.

short story: http://www.newser.com/story/263749/h...n-florida.html

New Python Hybrid May Spell Future Trouble in Everglades
A DNA study found a genetically mixed species that could lead to a more vigorous invader

A genetic study has found a new and dangerous possibility lurking in the DNA of Florida's invasive pythons. Per the Miami Herald, researchers from the US Geological Survey tested hundreds of the Everglades' already worryingly prolific giant snake species and what they found could mean an even hardier invader down the line. Where they expected to find nothing but DNA from the water-loving ancestors of carelessly released pet Burmese pythons, scientists discovered that at least 13 of 400 snakes tested showed signs of hybridization with a relative known as the Indian rock python. Unlike the Burmese, the rock python prefers to live on higher drier ground. It's also faster and smaller.

Per the Guardian, this tells researchers that floating somewhere in the gene pool of Florida's estimated 150,000 pythons could be a mix of genes that could lead to a "super snake" with the ability to adapt even better to subtropical conditions in a Florida ecosystem already overrun with exotic and damaging invasives. Because researchers can't tell from their 400 snakes exactly how many of the Sunshine State's pythons are hybrids, they can't say for sure whether the added Indian rock python traits could one day make the population more adaptable to larger swaths of Florida and beyond.

but i thought that hybrids cannot breed? u can make them, but they cannot have their offsprings. is there some exception? if the hybrids are indeed sterile, it could slow their growth and expansion. (however slow or small that may be.)


here's a another article: https://www.thisisinsider.com/super-...reeding-2018-8

2 kinds of python are breeding in the Everglades, and it might help them become a 'super snake' with even better odds of spreading in Florida

A super snake could emerge in the Everglades, a new genetic study has revealed.

The study, published in the journal Ecology and Evolution on August 19, found that a small number of pythons in Florida had traits of both Burmese and Indian species, which could eventually lead to a new kind of snake emerging.

US Geological Survey researchers originally set out examining the DNA and tail tissue from snakes captured in south Florida partly in order to figure out how pythons were spreading so quickly in the Sunshine State, the Miami Herald reported.

Pythons, which can grow up to 33 feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds, have slowly spread north in Everglades National Park and west into Big Cypress Swamp since their arrival in the 1980s.

Scientists suspect the original population started when the pythons escaped people's homes where they were pets or a breeding facility in South Dade, and bred from there. Today, thousands of pythons are bred as pets in the US every year, and the USGS estimates tens of thousands live wild in the Everglades.

The vast majority of the roughly 400 snakes the USGS researchers analyzed in the study were closely related to Burmese pythons, but at least 13 had markers of Indian pythons.

The interbreeding may have resulted in "hybrid vigor," a genetic term that means the offspring takes the best traits from both species.

"Hybrid vigor can potentially lead to a better ability to adapt to environmental stressors and changes," lead author of the study and USGS geneticist Margaret Hunter said in a press release. "In an invasive population like the Burmese pythons in South Florida, this could result in a broader or more rapid distribution."

Burmese pythons are swamp-dwelling reptiles, while Indian pythons usually prefer dry, wooded ground.

The number of snakes found with markers of Indian pythons is small, but could lead to the Everglades snakes' habitats expanding to a more varied landscape.

Hunter said researchers don't know how much of the overall snake population has markers of Indian pythons.

Edit: and here's the full study the articles are based on: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...1002/ece3.4423

[Bogertophis]

...but i thought that hybrids cannot breed? u can make them, but they cannot have their offsprings. is there some exception? if the hybrids
are indeed sterile, it could slow their growth and expansion. (however slow or small that may be.)....

I'm not positive but I believe you're thinking about some of the unnatural crosses being done for the pet trade that cannot reproduce? Because in the wild, some kinds
do interbreed- Mojave & Southern Pacific rattlesnakes, for example. But rumors* about things like a cross between a rattlesnake & a harmless gopher snake (*started
because gopher snakes, like many other harmless species, vibrate their tails when threatened & to those hysterically afraid of snakes, the tail vibrating in dry brush even
sounds like a rattlesnake sometimes) are totally NOT true, even though they've been circulating for years.

In Florida, it may well be that some of these are making a "new & improved" version to better survive conditions. Nature's always re-inventing the wheel...it's a pity that
such headlines are bound to cause panic in some people and escalate snake-killings.

[bcr229]

IIRC people have bred bateaters (burm/retic crosses), but clutches and viable offspring are few and far between.

[Timelugia]

Whether or not they can breed would be dependent on the chromosome count of both species. If they're the same they'll be able to breed, but if they're different then you get an individual who can't breed (like a mule).
Although I have no idea how many chromosomes either of those species has...

[Alter-Echo]

From what I've read, all species in the genus python have 36 chromosomes, so it's likely they can all make fertile hybrids.