Mark Michaels brings folks up-to-date on their La. efforts with this post on the deployment of remote recording units:
Actually, the one, almost casual line, in the post that most interests me is that they have collected some sweet gum bark scrapings that may be tested for DNA. The chance of detecting IBWO DNA of course is slim indeed, and despite working in genetics ~15 years, I’m not even sure what the viability of detecting woodpecker DNA from bark scaling is? If they even could detect Pileated DNA that would be quite fascinating and add another tool to the search arsenal. My guess is that such testing will come up empty. More obviously, bird feathers and bird droppings can reveal identifiable DNA. If there is an expert out there who can fill us in more though about the feasibility of DNA testing on bark scrapings I’d be interested to hear about it…
(BTW, I'll probably do some sort of short post at end of coming week; if anyone has specific updates they want included with it let me know.)
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1 comment:
Just to eliminate any potential confusion, the analysis is being done, on material scraped from inside excavated insect tunnels. Whether this will yield any woodpecker DNA remains to be seen, as does the time and manner of disclosing results, if any.
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