2007/01/01 by Frieder Mayer, Christian Dietz, Andreas Kiefer · 4 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Bat Biology and Ecology Studies #Identification and Quantification in Food #Species Distribution and Climate Change
paper · pdf · doi:10.1186/1742-9994-4-4
openalex publication_date 2007/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The lack of obvious morphological differences between species impedes the identification of species in many groups of organisms. Meanwhile, DNA-based approaches are increasingly used to survey biological diversity. In this study we show that sequencing the mitochondrial protein-coding gene NADH dehydrogenase, subunit 1 (nd1) from 534 bats of the Western Palaearctic region corroborates the promise of DNA barcodes in two major respects. First, species described with classical taxonomic tools can be genetically identified with only a few exceptions. Second, substantial sequence divergence suggests an unexpected high number of undiscovered species.