A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Nicrophorus investigator has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens38
BINs1
Marker genes1
eDNA detections37
Countries9
The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen
COI-5P654 bp consensus32 specimens
ACGT
▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies
Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 96% of positions are identical in every specimen.
Where individuals differ — all 24 variable positions, in barcode order
Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.
Diversity (π)1.7%
Haplotypes15
BIN1
Most divergent pair3.1%
N.AmericaOtherEurope
Closest relatives by DNA barcode
The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5P
animal barcode
06Genome at a glanceGoaT · NCBI
The complete instruction manualNicrophorus investigator carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Genome size≈202 268 419 bp assembly estimate
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
THIS GENOME Nicrophorus investigator0.20 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Assembly levelChromosome
Completeness99.2% BUSCO
07Deep time~5.15 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin5.15 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
How it livedPBDB
Environmentterrestrial
Motilityactively mobile
Compositionchitin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type14 052 records
Wild obs. + sensor11 397
Museum / vouchered2 620
Cultivated / captive26
Other9
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO21 792 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy91% within 1 km
≤100 m 8 068≤1 km 1 774≤10 km 924>10 km 90
10 856 georeferenced · 541 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor11 397
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy76% within 1 km
≤100 m 828≤1 km 468≤10 km 390>10 km 25
1 711 georeferenced · 909 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence2 620
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 26 records without
Open the mapnot free-living26
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions26 of 69 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Edmonton, CA
744
Chicago, US
479
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
150
Jyväskylä, FI
109
NHMOlocation not on record
106
Tartu, EE
99
SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record
95
Bonn, DE
59
Olocation not on record
56
New Haven, US
40
Helsinki, FI
38
Royal Saskatchewan Museumlocation not on record
35
Metsähallituslocation not on record
33
Denver, US
24
Philadelphia, US
21
Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record
20
WIlocation not on record
19
Tilburg, NL
19
NTNU-VMlocation not on record
17
Tromsø, NO
17
Salzburg, AT
15
Trondheim, NO
15
ZMAAlocation not on record
14
OSUClocation not on record
14
Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiulocation not on record
13
Universidad Católica de Manizaleslocation not on record
13
CBDClocation not on record
11
South Kensington, GB
10
NMBU:MINAlocation not on record
9
MZLUlocation not on record
8
BioFokuslocation not on record
8
NCMGlocation not on record
8
Ugentlocation not on record
8
neflocation not on record
7
Kuopio, FI
7
Zoological Museum of the University of Chittagong, Bangladeshlocation not on record
7
TMPMlocation not on record
6
Uniwersytet Wrocławskilocation not on record
6
Essig Museum of Entomologylocation not on record
6
Washington, US
6
LSMlocation not on record
5
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
5
HUNMlocation not on record
5
University of Alberta Museums (UAM)location not on record
4
Copenhagen, DK
4
Department of Microbiology, Prince of Songkla Universitylocation not on record
4
Teylers Museumlocation not on record
3
US
3
SOVTlocation not on record
3
Saint John, CA
3
NMOKlocation not on record
3
IFR-DNFlocation not on record
2
Private Collection of H. Haraldseidelocation not on record
2
Natural History Museum, Londonlocation not on record
2
DOI/FWS, Kenai National Wildlife Refugelocation not on record
2
Museo di Storia naturale del Cilentolocation not on record
2
Nijmegen, NL
2
Oulu, FI
2
Lexington, US
2
JRUClocation not on record
1
Bavarian State Collection of Zoologylocation not on record
1
CUlocation not on record
1
Iwate Prefectural Museumlocation not on record
1
College Station, US
1
University of Guelph, Centre for Biodiversity Genomicslocation not on record
1
Chicago, US
1
Stockholm, SE
1
San Francisco, US
1
Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria - AGROSAVIAlocation not on record
1
69 institutions · 2 439 of 2 620 vouchered records shown · 181 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA37 detections
Where the DNA of Nicrophorus investigator was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found37
Studies independent surveys1
Countries8
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median16.4 °C 11.2–18.6
Seasonal swing summer↔winter19.6 °C
Max temp (day)22.4 °C 13.2–25.7
Min temp (night)10.7 °C 7.20–13.8
Precipitation65.5 mm/mo 39.3–158
Air humidity59.1 % 49.1–64.7
Moisture balance-45.2 mm/mo -122–115
Vapour deficit841 Pa 414–1,161
Wind speed2.80 m/s 2.00–4.70
Cloud cover36.1 % 29.5–48.5
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 31 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility14 052 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI37 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics38 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗