Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales
Suárez-Menéndez, M.; Bérubé, M.; Furni, F.; Rivera-León, V.E.; Heide-Jørgensen, M.P.; Larsen, F.; Sears, R.; Ramp, C.; Eriksson, B.K.; Etienne, R.S.; Robbins, J.; Palsboll, P.J. (2023). Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales. Science (Wash.) 381(6661): 990-995. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adf2160
In: Science (Washington). American Association for the Advancement of Science: New York, N.Y. ISSN 0036-8075; e-ISSN 1095-9203, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Suárez-Menéndez, M.
- Bérubé, M.
- Furni, F.
- Rivera-León, V.E.
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- Heide-Jørgensen, M.P.
- Larsen, F.
- Sears, R.
- Ramp, C.
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- Eriksson, B.K.
- Etienne, R.S.
- Robbins, J.
- Palsboll, P.J.
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| Abstract |
Phylogeny-based estimates suggesting a low germline mutation rate (μ) in baleen whales have influenced research ranging from assessments of whaling impacts to evolutionary cancer biology. We estimated μ directly from pedigrees in four baleen whale species for both the mitochondrial control region and nuclear genome. The results suggest values higher than those obtained through phylogeny-based estimates and similar to pedigree-based values for primates and toothed whales. Applying our estimate of μ reduces previous genetic-based estimates of preexploitation whale abundance by 86% and suggests that μ cannot explain low cancer rates in gigantic mammals. Our study shows that it is feasible to estimate μ directly from pedigrees in natural populations, with wide-ranging implications for ecological and evolutionary research. |
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