( embled a database from 218 species. The...)UF study first to quantify validity of DNA I.D. tool using marine snails

"The question is what happens as you move away from cowries or birds into nematodes or sea spiders and other creatures that people don't know much about," he said. "That's where the problem in identifying different species is greatest, where the bulk of the diversity of life is, including large numbers of undescribed forms."

In those cases where the data is incomplete because the collection of known species is small, scientists currently rely on threshold values to identify the likelihood of a particular specimen being a brand new species vs. being distantly related to an existing one, he said.

Using their database of these well-known animals, the accuracy of thresholds was examined supposing that their identity was unspecified. In these cases, the researchers determined that thresholds would yield a 17 percent error rate.

Besides its benefits to ecology, DNA barcoding has some forensic applications, Meyer said. One applied use already being employed is identifying the bird species responsible when a carcass damages an airplane engine, he said. "Engines are built to withstand strikes by birds up to a certain size, but not a large crane or goose," he said. "Thus, it's helpful to know which brand of shredded tweet went through the combine."

And because the technology also can identify eggs or other different life stages it could be used to help stop the spread of invasive species, Meyer said. "A border guard may come across some eggs or larvae in an orange shipment and wonder if they are from a dangerous fruit fly or something else to be concerned about," he said.

For that matter, this ability to detect species in earlier stages of development could benefit ecologists in their work as well, Meyer said.

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Source:University of Florida