The mitogenome of Elaphe bimaculata (Reptilia: Colubridae) has never been published: a case with the complete mitochondrial genome of E. dione

• Main Authors: Evgeniy Simonov, Artem Lisachov, Natalia Oreshkova, Konstantin Krutovsky
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Firenze University Press 2018
• Subjects: Zoology; QL1-991; Krasnoyarsk Krai; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-23394; https://doaj.org/article/b417930b6ca14aabb639c3d6222aba82

The steppes ratsnake, Elaphe dione (Pallas, 1773), is widely distributed across Eurasia, but the systematics and phylogeography of this species remain poorly studied. Sequencing of the full mitochondrial genome of this species provides a reference for its further study. Here, we report the full mitochondrial genome of an E. dione specimen from Krasnoyarsk Krai (East Siberia, Russia). We found that it is highly similar to the previously reported mitochondrial genome of the sister species, E. bimaculata. Both species misidentification by the authors of E. bimaculata mitogenome and the introgressive hybridization between these taxa can possibly explain this observation.