Data from: Pros and cons of external swabbing of amphibians for genetic analyses

Non-invasive DNA sampling is an important tool in amphibian conservation.
Buccal swabs are nowadays replacing the wounding toe-clipping method. Skin
and cloaca swabbing are even less invasive and easier to handle than
buccal swabbing, but could result in contaminations of genetic material.
Therefore, we test if external skin and cloaca swabs are as reliable as
buccal swabs for genetic analysis of amphibians. We analysed eight
microsatellite loci for the common frog (Rana temporaria, Linnaeus 1758)
and compared genotyping results for buccal, skin and cloaca swabs
regarding allelic dropouts and false alleles. Furthermore, we compared two
DNA extraction methods regarding efficiency and cost. DNA quality and
quantity (amplification success, genotyping error rate, in nanogram per
microlitre) were comparable among DNA sources and extraction methods.
However, skin and cloaca samples exhibited high degrees of contamination
with foreign individuals, which was due to sample collection during mating
season. Here, we established a simple low budget procedure to receive DNA
of amphibians avoiding stressful buccal swabbing or harmful toe clipping.
However, the possibility of contaminations of external swabs has to be
considered.