Forensic Identification of Ungulate Species Using Restriction Digests of PCR-Amplified Mitochondrial DNA

A survey of mitochondrial D-loop variation in 15 species of ungulates was conducted via amplification by the polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. This survey included moose (Alces alces), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus), black-tailed deer (O. h. columbianus), white-tailed deer (O. virginianus), waipiti (Cervus elaphus), pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), Stone's sheep (O. dalli), domestic sheep (O. aries), moulflon sheep (O. musimon), mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), domestic goat (Capra hircus), domestic cattle (Bos taurus), and bison (Bison bison). The results of this preliminary survey indicate that there may be sufficient species specific variation in the D-loop region of the mitochondrial genome of the ungulate species examined here, with the exception of deer (Odocoileus) species, to establish the species origin of the mitochondrial haplotypes of this group. The Odocoileus species are known to hybridize and sharing of mtDNA haplotypes was observed. The chelex DNA extraction technique was successfully used on small blood stains.