DNA Sampling

[BushSnake]

Psammophis notostictus (Groblershoop - NC)
Naja nivea (Port Nolloth - NC)
Bitis caudalis (several NC spots)
Bitis cornuta (Springbok - NC)
Lamprophis capensis (Springbok - NC)
Psammophylax rhombeatus(Swartberg Pass - WC)
Bitis arietans (Modimolle / Nylstroom - Limpopo Province + Kimberley - NC)
Causus rhombeatus (Magaliesburg - NW Province)
Naja mossambica (Lephalale - Limpopo Province)

Will see what I get during the rest of the season...

[Axel]

To bushsnake and mongoose, thanks for getting samples. Again, these will be filling in plenty of blank spaces on the sample map.

Looks like i'll be very busy in the lab for the forseeable future if the samples keep on coming like this .

[atropos]

Any tips on taking dna from small specimens? Like slug eaters for eg? Cheers

[Axel]

Any tips on taking dna from small specimens? Like slug eaters for eg? Cheers

Basically use the same ventral scale clipping technique as with a large snake, except take more clippings, maybe around 5 or 6. The DNA is contained in the thickened area around the scale base, so as long as you get some of this there will be DNA in the sample. The lab techniques we use can still be successful even with tiny nanogram quantities of DNA, so don't worry if the scale clips look microscopic - they will be fine

[Axel]

REVISED SPECIES LIST FOR DNA SAMPLING

Hello all,

firstly, sorry this has taken a while - I know I promised it to some forum members a while ago...

Here is a revised list of the species for which we would like DNA samples for. Some species have been removed from the the previous one as we now have enough samples, and a couple have been added. Please note we have specified certain geographic regions for some species.

Puff Adder – Bitis arietans
Cape cobra – Naja nivea
Rinkhals – Hemachatus haemachatus
Boomslang – Dispholidus typus
Cross-marked whip snake – Psammophis crucifer
Herald snake – Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia
Rhombic Skaapstecker – Psammophylax rhombeatus
Mole snake – Pseudaspis cana
Rhombic Egg-eater – Dasypeltis scabra
Brown house snake – Lamprophis capensis
Common slug-eater – Duberria lutrix
Berg Adder – Bitis atropos
Rhombic night adder – Causus rhombeatus
Horned Adder – Bitis caudalis
Coral snake – Aspidelaps lubricus
Karoo whip snake – Psammophis notostictus
Brown water snake – Lycodonomorphus rufulus
Wolf snake – Lycophidion capense
Eastern tiger snake – Telescopus semiannulatus
Beetz’s tiger snake – Telescopus beetzii
Snouted cobra – Naja annulifera (KZN and Mozambique only)
Eastern green mamba – Dendroaspis angusticeps (Mozambique, Zimbabwe, anywhere further north – not KZN)
Forest cobra – Naja melanoleuca


I'd also like to thank BV and all the other members who made myself and WW feel so welcome at the January THA meeting and in Pretoria. We had a great time. I'm starting to get data for mole snakes and egg-eaters now, in addition to the puffies, and the patterns are looking very interesting.

cheers,

Axel

[Bushviper]

After I went to all the trouble with clipping Snouted cobras you dont want the samples?

This one did not want to go into the tube.

[Axel]

Sorry BV, but yes, we will still take the samples you have already collected! It's just that we now have enough data for the snouties so we don't neccesarily want any more. They could also be useful for future projects, so your efforts were not in vain

Great pic by the way!

Ax

[Sico]

Axel can you please PM me detials to send you DNA samples to, i've got L. rufulus sitting in my freezer since december...
thanks