A database of turtles?!
The turtle reference genomic databases are datasets of tissue samples and genomic information from turtles from known locations. We can compare confiscated turtles to these turtles from known locations and determine which known locations the confiscated turtles are most closely related to, and thus where they likely originated in the wild.
These databases give us a reference template of turtles from known locations against which we can compare the unknown samples. We can’t repatriate (return back to habitat) confiscated turtles without that reference database.
Our Current Turtle Databases
We have hundreds of reference samples of Alligator Snapping Turtles, Bog Turtles, and Box Turtles. We have measured our accuracy and are confident that we can identify the population of origin for a confiscated sample from any of these species. As of 2023, we’ve used these databases to identify the population of origin of more than 60 confiscated turtles.
