DNA barcoderen van reptielen, amfibieën en vissen

Naturalis werkt aan een DNA-bibliotheek van inheemse en uitheemse dier- en plantensoorten. In 2012 en 2013 hebben vrijwilligers van RAVON hiervoor dode dieren aangeleverd. Van 43 soorten reptielen, amfibieën en vissen zijn één of meerdere exemplaren aangeleverd. Waar is dit eigenlijk goed voor? En wat is er met die dieren gebeurd? Among ways of identifying a species, traditional techniques are being supplemented by DNA barcoding. A DNA barcode is a snippet of DNA, an internationally agreed part of the total DNA, used to characterize the species. Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, is building up a collection of the DNA of a great number of species and already has a sizeable library. This library can be used for fast and reliable species identification, for species that are otherwise difficult to distinguish visually, or when only parts of the organism are available for identification. For this project, RAVON volunteers collected reptiles, amphibians and fish found dead in 2012 and 2013. All specimens were photographed and are stored in the collection of Naturalis. The DNA barcodes will be stored in the international database: http://www.boldsystems.org/. Our collection of Dutch amphibian and freshwater fish species is not complete. Therefore, should you find a freshly dead specimen, please contact RAVON (ziektes@ravon.nl).