Unique Population or Unique Species? Genetic Insights Into the Pygmy Freshwater Crocodiles of Northern Australia
Katherine Brittain, Torre Muhlbach, Rui Cao, Jose Luis Mijangos, Dean Yibarbuk, Erin O'Brien, Ruchira Somaweera, Nancy N FitzSimmons, Jaime Gongora · 2026
Read Unique Population or Unique Species? Genetic Insights Into the Pygmy Freshwater Crocodiles of Northern Australia by Katherine Brittain, Torre Muhlbach, Rui Cao, Jose Luis Mijangos, Dean Yibarbuk, Erin O'Brien, Ruchira Somaweera, Nancy N FitzSimmons, Jaime Gongora (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13426028.txt.
Description
Katherine Brittain and colleagues used DNA evidence to test whether the tiny freshwater crocodiles of rocky uplands in northern Australia form a separate species. These pygmy crocodiles mature earlier and reach only about half the adult size of downstream crocodiles.
The team read two stretches of DNA passed down from mothers, plus thousands of markers from across the genome. Pygmy and normal crocodiles shared the same DNA types, and grouping followed place more than body size. No clear genetic line split the pygmy form off as its own species, though each upland group still differed somewhat. Brittain argues the pygmy crocodiles still merit strong protection as distinct, isolated populations facing invaders and climate change.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Katherine Brittain, Torre Muhlbach, Rui Cao, Jose Luis Mijangos, Dean Yibarbuk, Erin O'Brien, Ruchira Somaweera, Nancy N FitzSimmons, Jaime Gongora |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 54 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |