Publication Date:
1998-11-30
Description:
Low diversities of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have recently been found in four species of matrilineal whale. No satisfactory explanation for this apparent anomaly has been previously suggested. Culture seems to be an important part of the lives of matrilineal whales. The selection of matrilineally transmitted cultural traits, upon which neutral mtDNA alleles "hitchhike," has the potential to strongly reduce genetic variation. Thus, in contrast to other nonhuman mammals, culture may be an important evolutionary force for the matrilineal whales.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Whitehead, H -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1998 Nov 27;282(5394):1708-11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1. hwhitehe@is.dal.ca〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9831562" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
*Behavior, Animal
;
*Biological Evolution
;
Computer Simulation
;
DNA, Mitochondrial/*genetics
;
Dolphins/genetics/physiology
;
Female
;
*Genetic Variation
;
Models, Biological
;
Selection, Genetic
;
*Vocalization, Animal
;
Whales/*genetics/physiology
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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