Molecular Identification and Genetic Variation of Species From Oil Palm Plantations of Malaysia Based on Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (COI) Gene Sequences.

Rats ( species) are the most notorious vertebrate pests in Malaysian oil palm plantations. Although many studies have been conducted on Asian rats, little attention has been paid to their species composition and phylogenetic relationships in oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia. We determined the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequence (708 bp) for 216 individual rats collected from five oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia.