Abstract
Did you know that scientists can use DNA to figure out which organisms have been in an area? Organisms leave DNA behind in the environment. We call this DNA environmental DNA (eDNA). Using eDNA is a new technique that scientists have used in water environments. We wanted to figure out if this same technique could work to find species on land.
We collected soil samples containing eDNA from golden moles in the western part of southern Africa. These mammals are hard to observe because they live underground and some species are rare. People believed that one species, De Winton’s golden mole, might be extinct. We extracted eDNA from soil samples. Then we compared the eDNA to DNA samples we collected from golden moles and from databases. We found that all four golden mole species live in this region of Africa. That means that we can use eDNA to find rare animals in land environments. It also means that De Winton’s golden mole is not extinct!
