title: 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?
abstract: 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 (Sousa) 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 Sousa 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 Sousa genus distribution range. Based on our combined genetic and morphological analyses, there is convincing evidence for at least four species within the genus (S. teuszii in the Atlantic off West Africa, S. plumbea in the central and western Indian Ocean, S. chinensis in the eastern Indian and West Pacific Oceans, and a new as-yet-unnamed species off northern Australia).
authors.affiliation: Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024, USA; Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, 10460, USA.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mendez
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Jefferson
authors.forename: Sergios-Orestis
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Kolokotronis
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krützen
authors.forename: Guido J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Parra
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Giana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minton
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berggren
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Särnblad
authors.forename: Omar A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Amir
authors.forename: Vic M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Peddemors
authors.forename: Leszek
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Karczmarski
authors.forename: Almeida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guissamulo
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Dipani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sutaria
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.forename: Howard C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004289:Dolphins / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D007438:Introns; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: cetaceans; conservation genetics; humpback dolphins; mammals; molecular evolution; speciation