Animal species identification is one of the important fields in forensic science. Unlike human forensics which makes use of DNA fingerprinting techniques to identify individuals of the same species - humans, animal forensic species identification is much more complicated as it involves the ability to identify and distinguish between hundreds to thousands of species when the material evidence is only a trace of animal tissue without the presence of any visual physical morphology. It is even more difficult when the specimen is an unknown and no reference material is available. Animal species identification is not only important for the prevention of wildlife crimes for the purpose of wildlife protection and conservation but it is also becoming more and more significant in food safety issues especially for the meat industry. Owing to the demand and the necessity of providing such services for regulation and enforcement in the context of environmental protection, food safety and biosafety, the Department of Chemistry (DOC)
Malaysia has initiated the use of DNA techniques employing the most widely used genetic markers as part of its scientific solution for animal species identification.
The genetic diversity of the endangered crocodile Tomistoma schlegelii was characterized using the protein coding ND 6-tRNA(glu)-cyt b and the cytochrome b-control region (cyt b-CR) markers. Concatenate data revealed six haplotypes with an overall haplotype diversity of 0.769 ± 0.039; nucleotide diversity was 0.00535 ± 0.00172. A nearest-neighbor analysis showed that all individuals clustered with four geographic regions (Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, and East Kalimantan) and were genetically differentiated. With the exception of the individuals from haplotype H2, which occurred in both Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak, all other haplotypes were geographically distinct. The H4 lineage, which was found to be the most divergent, clustered exclusively in the basal clade in all phylogenetic trees, and the haplotype network was unconnected at the 95% reconnection limit, suggesting further investigation to establish its possible status as a distinct evolutionary significant unit or a cryptic species.