DNA barcoding African small mammals

This project was conducted to increase understanding of mammalian biodiversity for arid-adapted fauna by DNA barcoding small mammals from understudied geographic regions (northern Africa and the Middle East) and by targeting understudied and underrepresented taxa, especially gerbils, a highly diverse clade of African rodents important to studies of agricultural impact, infectious disease dynamics, climate change and aridification, and land management and conservation. DNA barcodes for small mammals from northern Africa and the Middle East will aid in providing species identifications for the thousands of rodents that are currently unidentified in the NMNH’s rodent range and be useful to the global scientific and pest management communities. This NCBI BioProject contains DNA barcode records that were generated with support from the federally-funded Smithsonian Institution DNA Barcode Network.