A glitch in the Natrix: cryptic presence of alien grass snakes in Switzerland

Détails

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Etat: Public
Version: Final published version
ID Serval
serval:BIB_0A35B58892F1
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Titre
A glitch in the Natrix: cryptic presence of alien grass snakes in Switzerland
Périodique
Herpetology Notes
Auteur⸱e⸱s
Dubey S., Ursenbacher S., Schuerch J., Golay J., Aubert P., Dufresnes C.
ISSN
2071-5773
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2017
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
10
Pages
205-208
Langue
anglais
Résumé
We report the occurrence of alien grass snakes (Natrix natrix ssp.) in Western Switzerland (Lausanne), at a locality where striped grass snakes, presumably from Croatia (N. n. persa), escaped from outdoor enclosures of a reptile park in the 1970s, within the natural range of the threatened barred grass snake (N. n. helvetica). Three gravid females were captured at the introduction site in 2016: two exhibited colour patterns typical of native N. n. helvetica and the third had an intermediate phenotype. Yet, their neonates featured diverse colour patterns, several typical to N. n. persa. Genetic analyses identified two distinct mitochondrial alien lineages: one specific to N. n. persa/cypriaca and one specific to south-Alpine N. n. helvetica (genetically unrelated to native Western Swiss N. n. helvetica). These results suggest that alien grass snakes of multiple origins have established sustainable populations at the introduction site for the past 40 years, and potentially hybridized and introgressed with the local taxa. Hence, it alarms on the captive breeding practices of potentially invasive reptiles in animal parks, and adds to a long list of uncontrolled herps’ introductions, a major threat to biodiversity in Western Europe.
Mots-clé
Colubridae, Europe, Invasive species, mitochondrial DNA, Reptiles
Création de la notice
15/02/2017 16:55
Dernière modification de la notice
20/08/2019 13:32
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