Integrating multiple lines of evidence to better understand the evolutionary divergence of humpback dolphins along their entire distribution range: a new dolphin species in Australian waters?. Issue 23 (29th October 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mendez, Martin; Jefferson, Thomas A.; Kolokotronis, Sergios‐Orestis; Krützen, Michael; Parra, Guido J.; Collins, Tim; Minton, Giana; Baldwin, Robert; Berggren, Per; Särnblad, Anna; Amir, Omar A.; Peddemors, Vic M.; Karczmarski, Leszek; Guissamulo, Almeida; Smith, Brian; Sutaria, Dipani; Amato, George; Rosenbaum, Howard C.
• Is Part Of: Molecular ecology. Volume 22:Issue 23(2013)
• Page Start: 5936
• Page End: 5948
• Publication Date: 2013-10-29
• Subjects: Molecular ecology -- Periodicals; Molecular population biology -- Periodicals; 576
• DOI: 10.1111/mec.12535
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0962-1083

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="mec12535-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The conservation of humpback dolphins, distributed in coastal waters of the Indo‐West Pacific and eastern Atlantic Oceans, has been hindered by a lack of understanding about the number of species in the genus (<italic>Sousa</italic>) and their population structure. To address this issue, we present a combined analysis of genetic and morphologic data collected from beach‐cast, remote‐biopsied and museum specimens from throughout the known <italic>Sousa</italic> range. We extracted genetic sequence data from 235 samples from extant populations and explored the mitochondrial control region and four nuclear introns through phylogenetic, population‐level and population aggregation frameworks. In addition, 180 cranial specimens from the same geographical regions allowed comparisons of 24 morphological characters through multivariate analyses. The genetic and morphological data showed significant and concordant patterns of geographical segregation, which are typical for the kind of demographic isolation displayed by species units, across the <italic>Sousa</italic> genus distribution range. Based on our combined genetic and morphological analyses, there is convincing evidence for at least four species within the genus (<italic>S. teuszii</italic> in the Atlantic off West Africa, <italic>S. plumbea</italic> in the central and western Indian Ocean, <italic>S. chinensis</italic> in the eastern Indian and West Pacific Oceans, and a new as‐yet‐unnamed species off northern Australia).</p> </abstract>