The Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) has wreaked ecological havoc on Guam since its accidental release in the years following WWII, playing a major role in the extinction of endemic bird species and causing trophic cascades that have rewired how the island’s forests function. But how did a population of millions come from just a handful of snakes? And how does this species continue to thrive after eliminating so much of its prey base? A soon-to-be-released study looked into the genome of this invasive species and uncovered some intriguing possibilities. In this episode, the guys welcome their special guest, Dr. Christopher Osborne, to discuss his study and its implications for species management.
This episode was recorded on March 15, 2026 at Rollin T. Grant Gulf Wilderness Park in Lockport, NY, a place Bill has (jokingly) called “the armpit of WNY” despite its deep history and the fact that he’ll absolutely encourage you to check it out.
Episode Notes and Links
In the beginning of the episode, Steve said we would definitely, 100%, without doubt, cover something called Lewontin’s paradox. Well, we skipped it! The main idea behind the paradox is that genetic variation varies little among species, but population size varies massively. We would expect large populations to have a lot of genetic diversity, but we often find that they don’t. Population size doesn’t always scale with genetic diversity.
Regarding corpse flowers:
Listener Nathan K pointed out a useful distinction:
Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum) produces the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. It is not a single flower, but a large structure containing many individual flowers.
Rafflesia arnoldii produces the largest individual flower in the world.
Both are commonly called “corpse flowers” because they independently evolved traits that mimic rotting animal tissue, including reddish coloration and powerful carrion-like odors. These cues attract carrion-associated flies and beetles that act as pollinators.
This makes the two plants a striking example of convergent evolution: they are not closely related, but both evolved similar carrion-mimicking reproductive strategies.
Why are they so huge?
There is actually a published hypothesis that the enormous size of some carrion-mimicking flowers may help them imitate larger animal carcasses.
Different carrion insects can be associated with different sizes and types of carcasses, so researchers have proposed that a larger floral display could:
resemble a larger carcass visually,
produce a greater quantity of carrion odor,
attract insects from farther away,
and potentially target flies or beetles that normally seek out larger carrion.
That means Nathan’s suggestion that these plants may in some sense be converging on the appearance and smell of large-animal carrion is scientifically plausible and has precedent in the literature.
Important caveat
The general idea of carrion mimicry is very well supported, and the idea that gigantism could help mimic larger carcasses has been proposed by researchers. It’s an intriguing hypothesis, but the idea that they are specifically mimicking something like a rhino carcass remains speculative.
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Works Cited
A single preprint!
Osborne, C.A., Foote, B.M., Fleck, S.J., Waterman, H.M., Chang, S.L., Nafus, M.G., Bellinger, M.R., Gray, L.N. and Krabbenhoft, T.J., 2026. Genomic Structural Variation Rescues a Classic Biological Invader from a Population Bottleneck. bioRxiv, pp.2026-01.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2026/02/02/2026.01.30.702330.full.pdf
Photo Credit
Brown tree snake, USDA/APHIS, Public Domain, https://www.fws.gov/media/brown-tree-snake