Mitochondrial and microsatellite assessment of population structure of South American sea lion (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Otaria flavescens</Emphasis>) in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean |
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Authors: | Matías Feijoo Enrique P Lessa Rocío Loizaga de Castro Enrique A Crespo |
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Institution: | 1.Sección Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias,Universidad de la República,Iguá, Montevideo,Uruguay;2.Laboratorio de Mamíferos Marinos,Centro Nacional Patagónico and Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia,Puerto Madryn,Argentina |
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Abstract: | Several major breeding areas have been defined for the South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) along the Atlantic Ocean including the Uruguayan and Patagonian coasts. Together with a documented and severe reduction
in population sizes caused by commercial hunting in the last century, these areas show opposite population trends. While Patagonian
populations are recovering since hunting ceased, Uruguayan populations are declining. In this context, population genetic
structure and genetic diversity were studied for the first time with both nuclear (microsatellites) and mitochondrial (control
region) markers together. Alternative scenarios were found for both markers. While mitochondrial marker showed geographically
structured populations, the nuclear loci showed a lack of geographical structure. These opposite patterns in genetic structure
could be explained by female phylopatry and high male dispersion. The reduction in population size caused by commercial hunting
did not leave a detectable footprint of bottleneck at the genetic level. |
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