Genetic diversity of historical Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Bjornoya and Haoya (Tusenoyane), Svalbard, Norway.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The population size of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) is depleted relative to historical abundance levels. In Svalbard, centuries of over-exploitation brought the walrus herds to the verge of extinction, and such bottlenecks may have caused loss of genetic variation. To address this for Svalbard walruses, mitochondrial haplotypes of historical walruses from two major haul-out sites, Bjørnøya and Håøya, within the Archipelago were explored using bone samples from animals killed during the peak period of harvesting.

Results

Using ancient DNA methodologies, the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 1 (ND1) gene, the cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) gene, and the control region (CR) were targeted for 15 specimens from Bjørnøya (of which five were entirely negat

SUBMITTER: Lindqvist C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4757977 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature