Genomic analyses reveal an absence of contemporary introgressive admixture between fin whales and blue whales, despite known hybrids.

ABSTRACT: Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and blue whales (B. musculus) are the two largest species on Earth and are widely distributed across the world's oceans. Hybrids between these species appear to be relatively widespread and have been reported in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific; they are also relatively common, and have been proposed to occur once in every thousand fin whales. However, despite known hybridization, fin and blue whales are not sibling species. Rather, the closest living relative of fin whales are humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). To improve the quality of fin whale data available for analysis, we assembled and annotated a fin whale nuclear genome using in-silico mate pair libraries and previously published short-read data. Using this assembly and genomic da

SUBMITTER: Westbury MV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6760757 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature