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My First Conservation Genomics Project

Phylogenetic Tree

What I Did

I downloaded DNA barcodes (COI gene) from NCBI and built a family tree using MEGA11.

Animals Used

Accession Number Scientific Name Common Name Class
HM639907.1 Pithecophaga jefferyi Philippine Eagle Bird
JN801468.1 Tyto alba Barn Owl Bird
MT127000.1 Dicerorhinus sumatrensis Sumatran Rhinoceros Mammal

What the Tree Shows

The Philippine Eagle and Barn Owl are closely related (they share a recent branch point).
The Sumatran Rhinoceros is distantly related (it branches off at the base).

This makes sense because:

  • Eagles and owls are both birds
  • Rhinos are mammals
  • The DNA barcode correctly separated them by class

Why This Matters for Conservation

The Sumatran Rhinoceros is critically endangered (<80 individuals left).
The Philippine Eagle is also critically endangered.

By learning to read their DNA, we can:

  1. Identify species from poop, hair, or blood samples
  2. Track illegal wildlife trade (DNA barcoding)
  3. Measure genetic health of small populations
  4. Plan captive breeding to avoid inbreeding

Tools Used

  • NCBI (sequence download)
  • MEGA11 (alignment + neighbor-joining tree)
  • Notepad (file merging)

Files

  • Sequence — Combined DNA sequences
  • PhyloAnalysis — Phylogenetic tree image