To combat wildlife-related crimes on an international scale, DNA forensics techniques have been used to identify which species have been the victim of illegal trafficking activities. Using DNA extracts from two batches of pangolin scales seized by the Hong Kong Customs, a group of scientists from the Kadoorie Farm conducted a phylogenetic analysis in 2015 to identify the species and geographic origins of the seized pangolin scales.

Some five years later in October 2020, a group of scientists from Germany and China took up the study and concluded that there might in fact be a fifth Asian pangolin species.

Courtesy of Louis Cheung

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