Mailbag: Burmese pythons uncoil across Florida

Below are some e-mails Dr. Lowman has received regarding her latest column in the Herald-Tribune, Burmese pythons uncoil across Florida, followed by Dr. Lowman’s responses.

Donna writes:

Re: Response to your latest article

After reading the article in todays paper, I realized that there was nothing addressed to the issue re these animals that are purchased and then released into the environment. Why is there no-one held accountable for releasing these animals? Further, why is no one held accountable for selling them in the first place? This practice should be illegal and t;he perpetrators should be held accountable! Today it is an alligator or ibis, tomorrow it could be a toddler in someone’s back yard! Please address this issue!

Donna,
Our country is spending more money on wars with the middle east than protecting our borders from invasive species. Only voters can change these priorities. It is good to be informed, and perhaps we can work to educate folks about these issues. Sorry I don’t have any more positive news about control of invasive species, but it would require some federal mandates (I am told) to limit pet stores from selling snakes, or to require states or counties to control invasives. And the animal rights groups are very vocal about saving snakes and lizards, so go figure! If you have a creative solution, send a letter to the editor!
cheers,
Meg

MC Coolidge writes:

Re: wow. your story on parthenogenating pythons!

Okay, maybe I made up the verb in the subject line, but still … what a story! You really opened my eyes and provided a much needed education. I’ve never owned a snake and frown upon that in general, but still found your editorial to be compelling.

I hope you can sell that piece to other publications and somehow get it into the hands of children who might want snakes as pets. I also wonder why we allow this species to be brought into the U.S……

Anyway, great piece, as usual.

All best,
MC Coolidge (aka Reality Chick)

Mary,
Thanks for writing! I am happy to serve as a science educator for southwest Florida — we don’t have enough knowledge available about our ecosystems in the public channels, it would appear!
Yours,
Meg

Miles writes:

Re: Your Python article

Dr. Lowman

I suggest that you use your influence to get the importation and sale of these creatures outlawed. They have no place in our country. I am sure that other environmental and wildlife associations would be on board with the banning of them. There is no reason for anyone to possess them. How long will it be before one of then catches a small child??

Thank you for publicizing this danger to us.

Miles

Dear Miles,
There is a strong lobby of people interested in defending animal rights, even in cases such as pythons where they are introduced and also kill local wildlife. Your best bet is to write your County Commissioners, asking them to take action. Or send a letter to the editor. My influence as a scientist is not nearly as powerful as your influence as a voter!
cheers,
Meg

George writes to provide an abstract and PDF of an article from the scientific journal Heredity:

I tracked down the original reference for python parthenogenesis. Convincing!

Molecular genetic evidence for parthenogenesis in the Burmese python, Python molurus bivittatus

Abstract

Parthenogenesis among reptiles is rare. Only a few species have the ability to reproduce asexually. Most of these are obligate parthenogenetic species that consist (almost) entirely of females, which can reproduce solely through parthenogenesis. Rarer are sexual species that only sporadically reproduce through parthenogenesis. A female Python molurus bivittatus(Reptilia, Boidae) from the Artis Zoo, Amsterdam, produced eggs in five consecutive years that contained embryos while she was isolated from males. These eggs might be fertilized with stored sperm, or might be the product of parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis has not been shown for the Boidae family before. We performed parentship analyses on the snake and seven of her embryos using microsatellites and AFLP. Four microsatellite loci developed for this species combined with three loci developed previously for different snake species revealed too little variation to discriminate between sperm retention and parthenogenesis. With AFLP we were able to confirm that the Artis Zoo female reproduced parthenogenetically. Because the offspring are genetically identical to their mother, whereas in previous studies on sporadic parthenogenesis in snakes a loss of genetic information was reported, we conclude that the meiotic pathways that produce the diploid egg cells are different.

PDF of the article