ANALYSIS OF MITOCHONDRIAL DNA DIVERSITY WITHIN AND BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2000.tb00950.x
• Publication Date: 2006-08-26T20:15:01Z
• Authors: S. Malik; M. W. Brown; S. D. Kraus; B. N. White
• Keywords: Right whale; Nucleotide diversity; mtDNA control region; Cetacea

A bstract DNA sequences of the mitochondrial control region 180 North Atlantic right whales ( Euhalaena glacialis ) and 16 South E. australis have been determined using a combination direct sequencing single stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. Five haplotypes were found in , 10 but none shared, supporting reproductive isolation separate species status whales. One haplotype E, was only three males born before 1982 this matriline will likely be lost soon. The nucleotide diversity estimates for five whale 0.6% 2.0% average haplotypic 0.87 0.96 which is consistent with other studies showing lower level genetic variation whale. Phylogenetic analysis identified two major assemblages from samples collected Peninsula Valdes, suggesting mixing historically divergent populations. Using distance measurements divergence rate 0.5%–1.0%/myr, we estimate diverged 3–12.5 mya.