Species Identification of Tarantulas using Exuviae for International Wildlife Law Enforcement |
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Authors: | Stephen D Petersen Tom Mason Sarah Akber Rick West Brad White Paul Wilson |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, Trent University, NRDPFC, Peterborough, K9J 7B8, ON, Canada;(2) Toronto Zoo, Toronto, ON, Canada;(3) 3436 Blue Sky Place, Victoria, V9C 3N5, BC, Canada;(4) Watershed Ecosystem Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, K9J 7B8, ON, Canada |
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Abstract: | This paper outlines a novel, non-invasive procedure to obtain DNA from Mexican tarantulas (Brachypelma spp.) using exuvia. These species are important in the pet trade and species identification is important for international
wildlife law enforcement. Mitochondrial DNA sequence from the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene was used to investigate the relationship between various Brachypelma spp. This phylogeny was used as a framework to assign unknown specimens and spiderlings to species. The benefits to conservation,
research, and international wildlife law enforcement that are gained by the ability to accurately identify species without
the death of the specimen are explored. Our data also suggest that there is no support for the genus Brachypelmides as some authors have proposed and upholds the synonymy of Locht et al. (1999) J Arachnol 27:196–200. |
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Keywords: | Brachypelma COI gene Exuvia Non-invasive DNA sampling Tarantula |
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