Forensic identification of species and subspecies of <i>Canidae</i> family by cross‐species PCR and real‐time PCR

We propose an approach to species identification of four species of the Canidae family, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), and the wolf including the gray wolf (Canis lupus lupus) and the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), based on characteristics of manifestation of microsatellite loci during cross-species amplification. Additionally, we present an approach to DNA identification of the subspecies of Canis lupus, the gray wolf and the domestic dog, based on variations in the copy number of the amylase gene. This comprehensive study of canids living in Belarus makes it possible to reliably differentiate forensic samples by species and subspecies before genetic identification of individuals.