Whole-genome sequencing of the blue whale and other rorquals finds signatures for introgressive gene flow
- Reconstructing the evolution of baleen whales (Mysticeti) has been problematic because morphological and genetic analyses have produced different scenarios. This might be caused by genomic admixture that may have taken place among some rorquals. We present the genomes of six whales, including the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), to reconstruct a species tree of baleen whales and to identify phylogenetic conflicts. Evolutionary multilocus analyses of 34,192 genome fragments reveal a fast radiation of rorquals at 10.5 to 7.5 million years ago coinciding with oceanic circulation shifts. The evolutionarily enigmatic gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is placed among rorquals, and the blue whale genome shows a high degree of heterozygosity. The nearly equal frequency of conflicting gene trees suggests that speciation of rorqual evolution occurred under gene flow, which is best depicted by evolutionary networks. Especially in marine environments, sympatric speciation might be common; our results raise questions about how genetic divergence can be established.
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| Author: | Úlfur Árnason, Fritjof LammersORCiDGND, Vikas Kumar, Maria Anna NilssonORCiD, Axel JankeORCiD |
|---|---|
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-462905 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aap9873 |
| ISSN: | 2375-2548 |
| Pubmed Id: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29632892 |
| Parent Title (English): | Science advances |
| Publisher: | Assoc. |
| Place of publication: | Washington, DC [u. a.] |
| Document Type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of Completion: | 2018 |
| Date of first Publication: | 2018/04/04 |
| Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
| Release Date: | 2018/04/17 |
| Volume: | 4 |
| Issue: | 4, eaap9873 |
| Page Number: | 11 |
| First Page: | 1 |
| Last Page: | 10 |
| Note: | This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited. |
| HeBIS-PPN: | 432043497 |
| Institutes: | Angeschlossene und kooperierende Institutionen / Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft |
| Biowissenschaften / Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität | |
| Dewey Decimal Classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
| Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
| Open-Access-Publikationsfonds: | Biowissenschaften |
| Licence (English): |  Creative Commons - Namensnennung-Nicht kommerziell 4.0 |
