Journal article

Mitochondrial DNA analyses of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) from the Northern Territory of Australia

NL Luck, KC Thomas, VE Morin-Adeline, S Barwick, AY Chong, EL Carpenter, L Wan, CE Willet, SM Langford-Salisbury, M Abdelsayd, RA Ang, SJ Atkinson, FG Barcelo, ME Booth, EJ Bradbury, TL Branighan, J Brown, LE Castillo, ND Chandler, JY Chong Show all

Australian Journal of Zoology | CSIRO PUBLISHING | Published : 2012

Abstract

The saltwater crocodile is distributed throughout south-east Asia and Australia. In Australia, it is most abundant in the Northern Territory and Queensland, where it is sustainably farmed for its skins and meat. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationships and genetic structure among saltwater crocodiles from the Northern Territory of Australia using mitochondrial control region sequences from 61 individuals, representing nine river basins and six of unknown origin, as well as published sequences from other regions. Eight mitochondrial control region haplotypes were identified among both published and novel sequences. Three of the haplotypes appear to be restricted to specimens f..

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Funding Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Rosanne Taylor (Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney) for her feedback and support for this activity. This research was funded by the Faculty of Veterinary Science through unit of study budgets and the Scholarship Index Funds Grant Scheme 2007 and 2008 and the Teaching Improvement and Equipment Scheme 2010 to Dr Gongora. We are also grateful to the Darwin Crocodile Farm (Porosus Pty Ltd), Northern Territory, for supplying and facilitating samples.