Avoiding common numts to provide reliable species identification for tiger parts

Kelly I. Morgan; Kyle M. Ewart; Truong Q. Nguyen; Frankie T. Sitam; Kanita Ouitavon; Amanda L. Lightson; Antoinette Kotze; Ross McEwing

Forensic Science International: Reports (Jul 2021)

Avoiding common numts to provide reliable species identification for tiger parts

Kelly I. Morgan,
Kyle M. Ewart,
Truong Q. Nguyen,
Frankie T. Sitam,
Kanita Ouitavon,
Amanda L. Lightson,
Antoinette Kotze,
Ross McEwing

Affiliations

Kelly I. Morgan: TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.
Kyle M. Ewart: TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Truong Q. Nguyen: Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Viet Nam
Frankie T. Sitam: National Wildlife Forensic Laboratory (NWFL), Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kanita Ouitavon: DNP-WIFOS Laboratory Center, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand
Amanda L. Lightson: TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Antoinette Kotze: South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Pretoria, South Africa; University of the Free State, Genetics Department, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Ross McEwing: TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 3
p. 100166

Abstract

Read online

Tigers are killed to supply a demand for many wildlife products despite a ban on commercial international trade. As populations decrease, products from substitute species (i.e. lions and leopards) have been fraudulently sold as tiger. DNA forensic techniques are needed to definitively identify tiger in order to secure prosecutions although this is complicated by the presence of numts. Therefore, we have developed and validated a CO1 genetic marker that preferentially amplifies the mtDNA CO1 region and excludes the nuclear CO1 pseudogene, which we expect to be of use in tiger forensic casework.

Published in Forensic Science International: Reports

ISSN: 2665-9107 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Law: Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence: Comparative law. International uniform law: Criminal law and procedure
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/forensic-science-international-reports

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords