Postglacial recolonization of the Southern Ocean by elephant seals occurred from multiple glacial refugia

Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolynErthygladolygiad gan gymheiriaid

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  • Andrew Berg
    University of Sydney
  • Megan Askew
    University of Otago
  • Frederik Seersholm
    Curtin UniversityUniversity of Copenhagen
  • Alexander Verry
    University of Otago
  • Rus Hoelzel
    Durham University
  • Andreanna Welch
    Durham University
  • Karen Greig
    University of Otago
  • Richard Walter
    University of OtagoUniversity of Queensland
  • Michael Knapp
    University of Otago
  • Axel Barlow
  • Johanna Paijmans
  • Jonathan Waters
    University of Otago
  • Michael Bunce
    Curtin UniversityUniversity of Otago
  • Kate McDonald
    University of Otago
  • Sue O’Connor
    Australian National University, Canberra,
  • Brenda Hall
    University of Maine
  • Paul Koch
    University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Carlo Baroni
    Università di Pisa
  • Maria Salvatore
    Università di Pisa
  • Patrick Faulkner
    University of Sydney
  • Simon Ho
    University of Sydney
  • Nicolas Rawlence
    University of Otago
  • Mark de Bruyn
    University of SydneyGriffith University, Brisbane
The Southern Ocean is warming more rapidly than other parts of our planet. How this region’s endemic biodiversity will respond to such changes can be illuminated by studying past events, through genetic analyses of time-series data sets including historic and fossil remains. Archaeological and subfossil remains show that the southern elephant seal ( Mirounga leonina ) was common along the coasts of Australia and New Zealand in the recent past. This species is now mostly confined to sub-Antarctic islands and the southern tip of South America. We analysed ancient seal samples from Australia (Tasmania), New Zealand, and the Antarctic mainland to examine how southern elephant seals have responded to a changing climate and anthropogenic pressures during the Holocene. Our analyses show that these seals formed part of a broader Australasian lineage, comprising seals from all sampled locations from the south Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. Our study demonstrates that southern elephant seal populations have dynamically altered both range and population sizes under climatic and human pressures, over surprisingly short evolutionary timeframes for such a large, long-lived mammal. Significance Statement Genetic data, alongside historic, archaeological, and subfossil remains show that Australasian populations of the southern elephant seal have been shaped by range expansions and contractions following the Last Glacial Maximum, with subsequent contractions during the late Holocene. These expansion and contraction events are likely to have been a direct result of climate change-induced habitat expansion and contraction, along with Indigenous and European sealing. Prehistoric climate change and more recent human pressures have substantially altered the geographic distribution and population size of southern elephant seals over short evolutionary timescales
Iaith wreiddiolSaesneg
Rhif yr erthygle70101
CyfnodolynGlobal Change Biology
Cyfrol31
Rhif y cyfnodolyn3
Dyddiad ar-lein cynnar7 Maw 2025
Dynodwyr Gwrthrych Digidol (DOIs)
StatwsCyhoeddwyd - Maw 2025
Gweld graff cysylltiadau