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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Phenotypic and genetic divergence among harbour porpoise populations associated with habitat regions in the North Sea and adjacent seas
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Volume 25, No. 4, Year 2012
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Description
Determining the mechanisms that generate population structure is essential to the understanding of speciation and the evolution of biodiversity. Here, we investigate a geographical range that transects two habitat gradients, the North Sea to North Atlantic transition, and the temperate to subpolar regions. We studied the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), a small odontocete inhabiting both subpolar and temperate waters. To assess differentiation among putative populations, we measured morphological variation at cranial traits (N=462 individuals) and variation at eight microsatellite loci for 338 of the same individuals from Norwegian, British and Danish waters. Significant morphological differentiation reflected the size of the buccal cavity. Porpoises forage in relatively shallow waters preying mainly on benthic species in British and Danish waters, and on mesopelagic and pelagic fish off the coast of Norway. We suggest that the observed differentiation may be explained by resource specialization and either adaptation or developmental responses to different local habitats. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2012 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.
Authors & Co-Authors
De Luna, C. J.
United Kingdom, Durham
Durham University
Goodman, Simon J.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Thatcher, O.
United Kingdom, London
Zoological Society of London Institute of Zoology
Jepson, Paul D.
United Kingdom, London
Zoological Society of London Institute of Zoology
Andersen, Liselotte Wesley
Denmark, Aarhus
Aarhus Universitet
Tolley, Krystal A.
South Africa, Pretoria
South African National Biodiversity Institute
South Africa, Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University
Hoelzel, Alan Rus
United Kingdom, Durham
Durham University
Statistics
Citations: 19
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02461.x
ISSN:
1010061X
e-ISSN:
14209101
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study