Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
Published on: March 13, 2011
Cytb-based identification and phylogenetic placement of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Southeastern Anatolia (Türkiye)
Gül Olgun Karacan1, Şafak Bulut2
1Department of Medical Laboratory Techniques, Vocational School of Health Services, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Türkiye.
Abstract:
Non-invasive genetic approaches provide reliable tools for species identification, particularly in cases where morphological traits are ambiguous. This study investigated the potential presence of Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii) in Southeastern Anatolia (Türkiye), prompted by camera trap images showing features that could be attributed to either V. rueppellii or the red fox (V. vulpes). Mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cytb) sequences were obtained from fecal samples and analyzed using Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic methods, complemented by haplotype network analysis. All sequences showed high similarity (99-100%) to V. vulpes and clustered within the V. vulpes reference sequences. No genetic evidence supporting the presence of V. rueppellii was detected. The haplotype network further confirmed the placement of all samples within the Holarctic lineage of V. vulpes. These findings demonstrate that the individuals observed in the study area belong to V. vulpes, despite morphological variation that could suggest otherwise. The results highlight the importance of mitochondrial DNA-based methods for accurate species identification in non-invasive studies, particularly in regions where closely related taxa may occur.
Related Concept Videos
Epistasis
Rabies
Taxonomy
Modern Molecular Taxonomy
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
