Publications (6)23.44 Total impact
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Article: Female philopatry in coastal basins and male dispersion across the North Atlantic in a highly mobile marine species, the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus).
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ABSTRACT: The mechanisms that determine population structure in highly mobile marine species are poorly understood, but useful towards understanding the evolution of diversity, and essential for effective conservation and management. In this study, we compare putative sperm whale populations located in the Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and North Sea using mtDNA control region sequence data and 16 polymorphic microsatellite loci. The Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic and North Sea populations each possessed similar low levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity at the mtDNA locus, while the Mediterranean Sea population showed no detectable mtDNA diversity. Mitochondrial DNA results showed significant differentiation between all populations, while microsatellites showed significant differentiation only for comparisons with the Mediterranean Sea, and at a much lower level than seen for mtDNA. Samples from either side of the North Atlantic in coastal waters showed no differentiation for mtDNA, while North Atlantic samples from just outside the Gulf of Mexico (the western North Atlantic sample) were highly differentiated from samples within the Gulf at this locus. Our analyses indicate a previously unknown fidelity of females to coastal basins either side of the North Atlantic, and suggest the movement of males among these populations for breeding.Molecular Ecology 09/2009; 18(20):4193-205. · 5.52 Impact Factor -
Article: A worldwide perspective on the population structure and genetic diversity of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in New Zealand.
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ABSTRACT: Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) occupy a wide range of coastal and pelagic habitats throughout tropical and temperate waters worldwide. In some regions, "inshore" and "offshore" forms or ecotypes differ genetically and morphologically, despite no obvious boundaries to interchange. Around New Zealand, bottlenose dolphins inhabit 3 coastal regions: Northland, Marlborough Sounds, and Fiordland. Previous demographic studies showed no interchange of individuals among these populations. Here, we describe the genetic structure and diversity of these populations using skin samples collected with a remote biopsy dart. Analysis of the molecular variance from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences (n = 193) showed considerable differentiation among populations (F(ST) = 0.17, Phi(ST) = 0.21, P < 0.001) suggesting little or no female gene flow or interchange. All 3 populations showed higher mtDNA diversity than expected given their small population sizes and isolation. To explain the source of this variation, 22 control region haplotypes from New Zealand were compared with 108 haplotypes worldwide representing 586 individuals from 19 populations and including both inshore and offshore ecotypes as described in the Western North Atlantic. All haplotypes found in the Pacific, regardless of population habitat use (i.e., coastal or pelagic), are more divergent from populations described as inshore ecotype in the Western North Atlantic than from populations described as offshore ecotype. Analysis of gene flow indicated long-distance dispersal among coastal and pelagic populations worldwide (except for those haplotypes described as inshore ecotype in the Western North Atlantic), suggesting that these populations are interconnected on an evolutionary timescale. This finding suggests that habitat specialization has occurred independently in different ocean basins, perhaps with Tursiops aduncus filling the ecological niche of the inshore ecotype in some coastal regions of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.The Journal of heredity 05/2008; 100(1):11-24. · 2.05 Impact Factor -
Article: Molecular systematics of South American dolphins Sotalia: sister taxa determination and phylogenetic relationships, with insights into a multi-locus phylogeny of the Delphinidae.
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ABSTRACT: The evolutionary relationships among members of the cetacean family Delphinidae, the dolphins, pilot whales and killer whales, are still not well understood. The genus Sotalia (coastal and riverine South American dolphins) is currently considered a member of the Stenoninae subfamily, along with the genera Steno (rough toothed dolphin) and Sousa (humpbacked dolphin). In recent years, a revision of this classification was proposed based on phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b, wherein Sousa was included in the Delphininae subfamily, keeping only Steno and Sotalia as members of the Stenoninae subfamily. Here we investigate the phylogenetic placement of Sotalia using two mitochondrial genes, six autosomal introns and four Y chromosome introns, providing a total of 5,196 base pairs (bp) for each taxon in the combined dataset. Sequences from these genomic regions were obtained for 17 delphinid species, including at least one species from each of five or six currently recognized subfamilies plus five odontocete outgroup species. Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of independent (each fragment) and combined datasets (mtDNA, nuDNA or mtDNA+nuDNA) showed that Sotalia and Sousa fall within a clade containing other members of Delphininae, exclusive of Steno. Sousa was resolved as the sister taxon to Sotalia according to analysis of the nuDNA dataset but not analysis of the mtDNA or combined mtDNA+nuDNA datasets. Based on the results from our multi-locus analysis, we offer several novel changes to the classification of Delphinidae, some of which are supported by previous morphological and molecular studies.Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 02/2008; 46(1):252-68. · 3.61 Impact Factor -
Article: Phylogeography, phylogeny and hybridization in trichechid sirenians: implications for manatee conservation.
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ABSTRACT: Abstract The three living species of manatees, West Indian (Trichechus manatus), Amazonian (Trichechus inunguis) and West African (Trichechus senegalensis), are distributed across the shallow tropical and subtropical waters of America and the western coast of Africa. We have sequenced the mitochondrial DNA control region in 330 Trichechus to compare their phylogeographic patterns. In T. manatus we observed a marked population structure with the identification of three haplotype clusters showing a distinct spatial distribution. A geographic barrier represented by the continuity of the Lesser Antilles to Trinidad Island, near the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela, appears to have restricted the gene flow historically in T. manatus. However, for T. inunguis we observed a single expanding population cluster, with a high diversity of very closely related haplotypes. A marked geographic population structure is likely present in T. senegalensis with at least two distinct clusters. Phylogenetic analyses with the mtDNA cytochrome b gene suggest a clade of the marine Trichechus species, with T. inunguis as the most basal trichechid. This is in agreement with previous morphological analyses. Mitochondrial DNA, autosomal microsatellites and cytogenetic analyses revealed the presence of hybrids between the T. manatus and T. inunguis species at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil, extending to the Guyanas and probably as far as the mouth of the Orinoco River. Future conservation strategies should consider the distinct population structure of manatee species, as well as the historical barriers to gene flow and the likely occurrence of interspecific hybridization.Molecular Ecology 03/2006; 15(2):433-47. · 5.52 Impact Factor -
Article: Worldwide structure of mtDNA diversity among Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris): implications for threatened populations.
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ABSTRACT: We present the first description of phylogeographic structure among Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) worldwide using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences obtained from strandings (n = 70), incidental fisheries takes (n = 11), biopsy (n = 1), and whale-meat markets (n = 5). Over a 290-base pair fragment, 23 variable sites defined 33 unique haplotypes among the total of 87 samples. Nucleotide diversity at the control region was relatively low (pi = 1.27%+/- 0.723%) compared to wide-ranging baleen whales, but higher than strongly matrifocal sperm, pilot and killer whales. Phylogenetic reconstruction using maximum likelihood revealed four distinct haplotype groups, each of which displayed strong frequency differences among ocean basins, but no reciprocal monophyly or fixed character differences. Consistent with this phylogeographic pattern, an analysis of molecular variance showed high levels of differentiation among ocean basins (F(ST) = 0.14, Phi ST = 0.42; P < 0.001). Estimated rates of female migration among ocean basins were low (generally < or = 2 individuals per generation). Regional sample sizes were too small to detect subdivisions within oceans except in the North Atlantic, where the Mediterranean Sea (n = 12) was highly differentiated due to the presence of two private haplotypes. One market product purchased in South Korea grouped with other haplotypes found only in the North Atlantic, suggesting a violation of current agreements banning international trade in cetacean species. Together, these results demonstrate a high degree of isolation and low maternal gene flow among oceanic, and in some cases, regional populations of Cuvier's beaked whales. This has important implications for understanding the threats of human impact, including fisheries by-catch, direct hunting, and disturbance or mortality from anthropogenic sound.Molecular Ecology 11/2005; 14(11):3353-71. · 5.52 Impact Factor -
Article: A poorly differentiated pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma in a free-ranging Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).
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ABSTRACT: A free-ranging, adult, female offshore bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) was found freshly dead in 1999 on Ocean Park Beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The left-lung and right-lung pleura had multiple white, firm-to-hard nodules with coagulative necrosis. Histologically, the neoplasms were characterized by multiple well-circumscribed, nonencapsulated expansile masses consisting mostly of polygonal cells with fewer circumferential flattened basaloid cells that compressed alveoli, bronchioles, and bronchi. Neoplastic cells stained positive for cytokeratin, with sporadic vimentin staining, and were negative for epithelial membrane antigen, thyroid transcription factor-1, calretinin, and human mesothelial cell antigen. A diagnosis of poorly differentiated pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma with lymph node and renal metastases was made on the basis of histomorphology and immunohistochemical staining. This is the first documentation of pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma in a dolphin.Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation: official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc 04/2003; 15(2):162-5. · 1.21 Impact Factor
Top co-authors
Top Journals
Institutions
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2009
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Durham University
- School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Durham, ENG, United Kingdom
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2003
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Southwest Fisheries Science Center
La Jolla, CA, USA
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