Assessing DNA Barcodes for Species Identification in North American Reptiles and Amphibians in Natural History Collections |
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| Authors: | E Anne Chambers Paul D N Hebert |
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| Institution: | 1Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, United States of America;2Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada;National Center for Biotechnology Information, UNITED STATES |
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| Abstract: | BackgroundHigh rates of species discovery and loss have led to the urgent need for more rapid assessment of species diversity in the herpetofauna. DNA barcoding allows for the preliminary identification of species based on sequence divergence. Prior DNA barcoding work on reptiles and amphibians has revealed higher biodiversity counts than previously estimated due to cases of cryptic and undiscovered species. Past studies have provided DNA barcodes for just 14% of the North American herpetofauna, revealing the need for expanded coverage.Conclusions/SignificanceThis study demonstrates that DNA barcodes can effectively flag errors in museum collections, while BIN splits and merges reveal taxa belonging to deeply diverged or hybridizing lineages. This study is the first effort to compile a reference library of DNA barcodes for herpetofauna on a continental scale. |
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