2002/02/01 by Steven M. Carr, H. Dawn Marshall, Kimberley A. Johnstone +2 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies #Identification and Quantification in Food #Marine animal studies overview
paper · doi:10.2307/1543217
openalex publication_date 2002/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Remains of large marine animals that wash onshore can be difficult to identify due to decomposition and loss of external body parts, and in consequence may be dubbed "sea monsters." DNA that survives in such carcasses can provide a basis of identification. One such creature washed ashore at St. Bernard's, Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, in August 2001. DNA was extracted from the carcass and enzymatically amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR): the mitochondrial NADH2 DNA sequence was identified as that of a sperm whale (Physeter catodon). Amplification and sequencing of cryptozoological DNA with "universal" PCR primers with broad specificity to vertebrate taxa and comparison with species in the GenBank taxonomic database is an effective means of discriminating otherwise unidentifiable large marine creatures.