Mitochondrial DNA analysis of sympatric morphotypes of bottlenose dolphins (genus: Tursiops) in Chinese waters

The classification within the bottlenose dolphin (genus Tursiops) is controversial. Although many morphological variants exist, most authors have concluded that the genus is composed of a single species, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu 1821). Two distinct morphotypes of bottlenose dolphins, which have been referred to as T. truncatus and T. aduncus, exist in sympatry in Chinese waters. Comparisons of a 386-bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (n = 47) indicated that the two sympatric morphotypes were genetically distinct, with seven fixed site differences and a sequence divergence of approximately 4.4%. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood, neighbour-joining and maximum parsimony approaches showed that the truncatus-type dolphins from Chinese waters were more closely related to Atlantic Ocean truncatus-type than to the sympatric aduncus-type dolphins. The Atlantic truncatus-type dolphins also shared the same diagnostic sites that separated Chinese truncatus-type from aduncus-type dolphins. The molecular data agreed completely with the morphological classifications of the specimens. This congruence is strong evidence that the sympatric morphotypes in Chinese waters are reproductively isolated and comprise two distinct species. These findings have important implications for the conservation of bottlenose dolphins in Chinese waters.     

COASTAL BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS FROM SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA ARE TURSIOPS ADUNCUS ACCORDING TO SEQUENCES OF THE MITOCHONDRIAL DNA CONTROL REGION

Sequence analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region was used to clarify the taxonomic status of two coastal bottlenose dolphin populations from southeastern Australia currently classified as Tursiops truncatus . A 368-bp segment of the control region of 57 biopsy-sampled, photo-identified dolphins of Jervis Bay and Port Stephens was compared to published sequences of T. truncatus and T. aduncus from different oceanic regions. Sequence divergence between haplotypes from southeastern Australia and T. aduncus was much lower than that from T. truncatus . Analyses using two different methods of phylogenetic reconstruction unambiguously placed all haplotypes from southeastern Australia in a group composed exclusively of T. aduncus . The results strongly indicated that these two bottlenose dolphin populations belong to T. aduncus , extending the range of the species to subtropical waters of the Western South Pacific Ocean.     

中国近海的两种宽吻海豚

本文研究了采自黄海和东海的23件宽吻海豚标本及采自南海的10件南宽吻海豚标本。宽吻海豚体腹面灰白色,成体最小的全长大于2.5米,颅基长495-580毫米。南宽吻海豚体腹面具纵长形暗色点斑,成体最大的全长小于2.5米,颅基长455-497毫米。两者的颅骨和颅后骨胳各有一些差别。中国南海标本的形态性状与南非海域及巴基斯坦沿岸的宽吻海豚相似。黄海和东海标本与东太平洋的标本有一些差别,而与南非及不列颠海域的宽吻海豚标本相似。     

New polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellites improve scoring accuracy in the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops aduncus

We isolated and characterized 19 novel tetranucleotide microsatellite markers in the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) in order to improve genotyping accuracy in applications like large-scale population-wide paternity and relatedness assessments. One hundred T. aduncus from Shark Bay, Western Australia, were screened for polymorphism. Cross-amplification was tested on four other small odontocete species. The new tetranucleotide microsatellite loci showed a more than fourfold higher scoring accuracy and significantly lower stutter formation compared to eight dinucleotide loci, although overall allelic diversity was significantly reduced.     

Population size estimate of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in the Algoa Bay region, South Africa

This study estimates the population size of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops aduncus ) in the Algoa Bay region on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa. Mark-recapture analyses were performed on photo-identification data collected on 54 occasions during a 3-yr-study period. Using a photographic data set of over 10,000 ID-images, 1,569 individuals were identified, 131 of which were photographed on more than one occasion. Using the POPAN formulation in the software program MARK, a total population of approximately 28,482 individuals (95% CI = 16,220–40,744; CV = 0.220), was estimated (estimate corrected for the proportion of distinctive individuals in the population). This is the largest population estimate to date for this species along the South African coast, suggesting that the bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the Algoa Bay region represent part of a substantially larger population that ranges along a considerable length of the South African coast.     

Phylogenetic placement and population structure of Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) off Zanzibar,Tanzania, based on mtDNA sequences

Phylogenetic placement of bottlenose dolphins from Zanzibar, East Africa and putative population differentiation between animals found off southern and northern Zanzibar were examined using variation in mtDNA control region sequences. Samples (n= 45) from animals bycaught in fishing gear and skin biopsies collected during boat surveys were compared to published sequences (n= 173) of Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops aduncus, from southeast Australian waters, Chinese/Indonesian waters, and South African waters (which recently was proposed as a new species) and to published sequences of common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus. Bayesian and maximum parsimony analyses indicated a close relationship between Zanzibar and South African haplotypes, which are differentiated from both Chinese/Indonesian and Australian T. aduncus haplotypes. Our results suggest that the dolphins found off Zanzibar should be classified as T. aduncus alongside the South African animals. Further, analyses of genetic differentiation showed significant separation between the T. aduncus found off northern and southern Zanzibar despite the relatively short distance (approximately 80 km) between these areas. Much less differentiation was found between southern Zanzibar and South Africa, suggesting a more recent common evolutionary history for these populations than for the northern and southern Zanzibar populations.     

REAPPRAISAL OF GEIKIA LOCUSTICEPS (THERAPSIDA: DICYNODONTIA) FROM THE UPPER PERMIAN OF TANZANIA

Abstract:  The holotype and only known specimen of Geikia locusticeps (von Huene, 1942) from the Kawinga Formation (Tatarian) of Kingori, south-west Tanzania, is redescribed. It is compared to the type specimen of the Tanzanian geikiid Pelanomodon tuberosus von Huene, 1942. It is demonstrated that G. locusticeps is a juvenile specimen of P. tuberosus . Ontogenetic changes in the skull of this taxon are recorded. They mainly concern the degree of skull ornamentation, whereas the major osteological and proportional features remain remarkably constant. Pelanomodon tuberosus is referred to Geikia locusticeps as a junior subjective synonym. G. locusticeps is compared to Geikia elginensis and South African representatives of Pelanomodon . G. locusticeps is demonstrated to represent a valid species, one that is so far endemic to the Ruhuhu Basin of south-west Tanzania. The relevance of the orientation of the postorbital bone to Permian pristerodontian systematics is discussed, and a phylogenetic analysis and new diagnosis for the family Geikiidae are presented.     

Congenital toxoplasmosis in a Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus)

Toxoplasma gondii was identified in tissues of a stillborn late-term fetus from an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus). Myocardial necrosis and nonsuppurative inflammation in the heart and nonsuppurative necrotizing encephalitis were associated with tachyzoites and tissue cysts. The diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining with anti-T. gondii-specific polyclonal rabbit serum.     

APPEARANCE, DISTRIBUTION, AND GENETIC DISTINCTIVENESS OF LONGMAN'S BEAKED WHALE, INDOPACETUS PACIFICUS

Longman's beaked whale, Indopacetus pacificus , was known previously from only two skulls. Here we describe four new specimens of this species from strandings in the western and central Indian Ocean. Two juveniles, previously misidentified from external morphology as Hyperoodon planifrons , were identified as I. pacificus through diagnostic characteristics of mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences derived from the holotype of this species. Images of the external appearance and teeth of the species are presented for the first time. Comparison of the color pattern of these new specimens with that of "tropical bottlenose whales" sighted in the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans confirm that those unidentified whales represent I. pacificus. Moore (1968) erected a new genus, Indopacetus , for this species (described initially as Mesoplodon pacificus ) based primarily on cranial morphology. Phylogenetic analyses of short mtDNA fragments available from the specimens known to date were unable to resolve the validity of this genus. However, the diagnostic osteological features highlighted by Moore (1968) for Indopacetus were also observed in the new specimens. Rib count and number of fused cervical vertebrae may also be diagnostic. Rostrum depth at mid-length and melon shape further distinguish this species from Mesoplodon beaked whales. As such, we see no reason on morphological grounds to overturn Moore's (1968) proposal that Longman's beaked whale is sufficiently distinct to be afforded its own genus.     

GENETIC VARIATION OF KOGIA SPP. WITH PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE FOR TWO SPECIES OF KOGIA SIMA

Concordance between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers and morphologically based species identifications was examined for the two currently recognized Kogia species. We sequenced 406 base pairs of the control region and 398 base pairs of the cytochrome b gene from 108 Kogia breviceps and 47 K. sima samples. As expecred, the two sister species were reciprocally monophyletic to each other in phylogenetic reconstructions, but within K. sima , we unexpectedly observed another reciprocally monophyletic relationship. The two K. sima clades resolved were phylogeographically concordant with all of the haplotypes in one clade observed solely among specimens sampled from the Atlantic Ocean and with those in the other clade observed solely among specimens sampled from the Indo-Pacific Ocean. These apparently allopatric clades were observed in all phylogenetic reconstructions using the maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and neighborjoining algorithms, with the mtDNA gene sequences analyzed separately and combined. The nucleotide diversity for the combined gene sequence haplotypes of the two K. sima clades resolved in our analyses was 0.58% and 1.03% for the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, respectively, whereas for the two recognized sister species, nucleotide diversity was 1.65% and 4.02% for K. breviceps and K. sima , respectively. The combined gene sequence haplotypes have accumulated 44 fixed base pair differences between the two K. sima clades compared to 20 fixed base pair differences between the two recognized sister species. Although our results are consistent with species-level differences between the two K. sima clades, recognition of a third Kogia species awaits supporting evidence that these two apparently allopatric clades represent reproductively isolated groups of animals.     

THE TYPE SERIES OF 'SINEMYS'WUERHOENSIS, A PROBLEMATIC TURTLE FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF CHINA, INCLUDES AT LEAST THREE TAXA

Abstract:  We re-examine the type series of ' Sinemys ' wuerhoensis Yeh (at least 20 specimens, including several shells and skulls on three slabs of matrix and one isolated skull) from the Early Cretaceous Tugulu Group of China. Our study shows that the type series of ' S. ' wuerhoensis is actually a chimera made up of at least three distinct taxa. The holotype of this taxon should be assigned to the basal eucryptodire genus Xinjiangchelys Yeh. As there are no characters that distinguish ' S. ' wuerhoensis from Xinjiangchelys species, we consider it to be a nomen dubium . This new assignment of ' S. ' wuerhoensis expands the temporal range of Xinjiangchelys from the Late Jurassic into the Early Cretaceous in Asia. The majority of the paratypes of ' S. ' wuerhoensis (several shells in dorsal and ventral aspect and skulls) are referred to the basal eucryptodire genus Ordosemys Brinkman and Peng. We establish a new name for these specimens, Ordosemys brinkmania sp. nov. One additional specimen in the type series of ' S. ' wuerhoensis , a skull, is referred to cf. Pantrionychia Joyce, Parham and Gauthier indet.     

POPULATION SIZE, DISTRIBUTION, AND BEHAVIOR OF INDO-PACIFIC BOTTLENOSE (TURSIOPS ADUNCUS) AND HUMPBACK (SOUSA CHINENSIS) DOLPHINS OFF THE SOUTH COAST OF ZANZIBAR

Indo-Pacific bottlenose ( Tursiops aduncus ) and humpback dolphins ( Sousa chinensis ) off the south coast of Zanzibar, East Africa, have been subject to both direct and indirect takes as well as disturbance from local dolphin tourism during the last decade. Meanwhile, little or no information on population parameters exists for these animals. In order to assess the anthropogenic threats, a study was conducted between 1999 and 2002 to determine population sizes, distribution, and behavior of these animals. Population sizes were calculated for each year using mark-recapture methods applied to photo-identification data. The estimates ranged between 136 and 179 for the bottlenose dolphins and between 58 and 65 for the humpback dolphins in the calculated 26 km² study area. Patterns in distribution and behavior were investigated using image and spatial statistic software on data from boat surveys. Analyses of spatial densities showed that both species concentrated their activities to smaller areas (2%–11.5%) within the study area. When the study results were considered in light of the anthropogenic threats, it was clear that immediate conservation measures were needed. This is critical if the negative impact on the species is to be minimized and the dolphins are to continue to represent a socioeconomic resource in the region.     

ABUNDANCE OF INDO-PACIFIC BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS, TURSIOPS ADUNCUS, OFF POINT LOOKOUT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

Managing escalating human impacts on nearshore cetaceans requires information on a species' demography and distribution patterns at appropriate spatial scales. Identification photographs of individuals of a population of inshore Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops aduncus , were obtained in the open coastal waters off North Stradbroke Island, Australia and used to estimate population density and residency. Five hundred and eighty-one individuals were identified from 342 school sightings during 1998 and 1999. Mark-recapture analysis using closed population models estimated a population size of between 700 and 1,000 individuals within the study area during winter, with evidence that the population contained resident individuals. This represents an extremely high number of dolphins within a small area, which requires a pre-emptive management strategy to ensure their continued occupancy.     

PCR 扩增Sry 基因进行鲸类动物性别的鉴定

哺乳动物Y染色体短臂上的Sry 基因决定雄性发育方向。本研究参照哺乳动物Sry 基因保守区序列设计引物, 以非性别特异性的线粒体DNA 细胞色素b 基因作为阳性对照, 用PCR 扩增江豚、长喙真海豚等鲸类动物的Sry 基因片断并对其进行凝胶电泳分析来鉴定鲸类动物的性别。通过此方法对87 个已知性别鲸类动物标本的检验, 结果完全正确, 并进一步应用此方法成功地完成了另外33 个未知性别鲸类标本的性别鉴定。由此建立了一套简单、快速、可靠的鲸类动物的性别鉴定方法。     

A RESIDENT POPULATION OF INDO-PACIFIC BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS (TURSIOPS ADUNCUS) IN AMAKUSA, WESTERN KYUSHU, JAPAN

Residency patterns and population size were examined for Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops aduncus ) in the coastal waters of Amakusa-Shimoshima Island, western Kyushu, Japan, from summer 1994 to fall 1998. A total of 203 individuals were identified. The number of newly identified individuals barely increased after the first 1.5 yr. The identified individuals in one season were frequently resighted with percentages of mostly over 60% during the subsequent seasons. Most of the dolphins off Amakusa were yearround residents, although the total range of their habitat was unknown. The population size estimated by the mark-recapture technique was 218 individuals with a CV of 5.41% in 1995–1997. The group commonly consisted of more than 100 individuals. The large group size was thought to be a response to feeding on schooling fishes.     

The cranial anatomy,ontogeny, and relationships of Karpinskiosaurus secundus (Amalitzky) (Seymouriamorpha,Karpinskiosauridae) from the Upper Permian of European Russia

The Upper Permian seymouriamorph tetrapod Karpinskiosaurus from European Russia includes two species: Karpinskiosaurus secundus and Karpinskiosaurus ultimus. Karpinskiosaurus secundus is represented by two specimens with skull lengths of about 75 mm. All specimens of K. ultimus are smaller than those of K. secundus. Revision of the cranial anatomy of all previously known and several new specimens of Karpinskiosaurus shows that the specimens of K. secundus and most of the specimens of K. ultimus represent the ontogenetic series of one species: K. secundus. The holotype specimen of K. ultimus requires revision, with the aim to find out whether it represents a second species of Karpinskiosaurus or not. The available material permits new reconstructions of the largest, holotype skull, and one smaller skull with a length of about 36 mm. Karpinskiosaurus secundus is included in a cladistic analysis for the first time here. The analysis shows it to form a sister taxon to Discosauriscidae. The clade comprising Karpinskiosaurus secundus plus Discosauriscidae forms a sister group to Seymouriidae. Karpinskiosaurus secundus has a large postorbital and a short preorbital region, and the orbits are placed in the posterior portion of the anterior half of the skull length. Among all seymouriamorphs, such cranial proportions are exhibited only by the largest known specimens of Discosauriscus austriacus. None of the specimens of K. secundus described here exhibits the presence of sensory grooves; thus, all specimens composing the ontogenetic sequence of K. secundus are considered to be terrestrial. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010.     

Population structure and speciation in the genus Tursiops based on microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have a world-wide distribution, and show morphotypic variation among regions. Distinctions between coastal and pelagic populations have been documented; however, regional patterns of differentiation had not been previously investigated in a wider geographic context. We analysed up to nine different populations from seven different areas of the world by mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite DNA markers, and found differentiation among all putative regional populations. Both mtDNA and microsatellite DNA data show significant differentiation, suggesting restricted gene flow for both males and females. Dolphins in coastal habitat showed less variability and were in most cases differentiated from a pelagic lineage, which could suggest local founder events in some cases. Two coastal populations recently classified as belonging to a new species, T. aduncus, were each highly differentiated from populations of the truncatus morphotype, and from each other, suggesting a possible third species represented by the South African aduncus type.     

The Early Triassic 'lizard'Colubrifer Campi: A Reassessment

Colubrifer campi Carroll, 1982 is a small reptile represented by a single skeleton from the Lower Triassic of South Africa. Carroll attributed the genus to the Squamata, proposing that it was a derived lizard with reduced limbs. Re-examination of the specimen permits a rather different interpretation of the skull. The holotype of Colubrifer is the skeleton of a small primitive procolophonian, almost certainly referable to the established South African genus Owenetta .     

DNA from a 100-year-old holotype confirms the validity of a potentially extinct hummingbird species

We used mtDNA sequence data to confirm that the controversial 100-year-old holotype of the Bogotá sunangel (Heliangelus zusii) represents a valid species. We demonstrate that H. zusii is genetically well differentiated from taxa previously hypothesized to have given rise to the specimen via hybridization. Phylogenetic analyses place H. zusii as sister to a clade of mid- to high-elevation Andean species currently placed in the genera Taphrolesbia and Aglaiocercus. Heliangelus zusii, presumed extinct, has never been observed in nature by biologists. We infer that the species occupied a restricted distribution between the upper tropical and temperate zones of the northern Andes and that it was most probably driven to extinction by deforestation that accompanied human population growth during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining DNA from nearly microscopic tissue samples from old hummingbird specimens and suggest that these methods could be used to resolve the taxonomy of dozens of avian taxa known only from type specimens.