DNA barcoding of 18 species of Bovidae

Genetic divergences of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I genes, known as DNA barcodes, have been used in species identification in the animal kingdom. Barcodes can assist field workers and taxonomists to determine groups in need of taxa analysis, and facilitate the recognition of appropriate populations and scales for conservation planning. In this study, 18 species of Bovidae were selected to evaluate the effectiveness of DNA barcoding for species differentiation. The results showed that all but 2 species had unique DNA barcodes. The mean intraspecific variation was 0.63%, yielding a threshold of 6.3% for flagging putative species. The results supported the inference that barcode variation within species of mammals is somewhat higher than within other animal groups. The present study validated the effectiveness of barcoding for the identification of bovid species.