Hey Daniel,
Thanks for the info. I guess the point of whether the Iowa and Nebraska amel genes are different alleles is a moot point then. I'm almost afraid to mention this, but if they're reproductively isolated from one another, that means... by definition... they're different...
but I don't want to get all wrapped around that issue. It's not worth debating these, essentially lab-produced anomalies that would have an extremely small chance of mating in the wild. In a way, it's a shame that this issue is even arising in the garter snake world
.
Rick