Mitochondrial genomes of ancient bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from Svalbard

Joost Grond; Magdalena Płecha; Christoph Hahn; Øystein Wiig; Lutz Bachmann

doi:10.1080/23802359.2019.1693284

Mitochondrial genomes of ancient bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from Svalbard

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2019 Nov 22;4(2):4152-4154. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2019.1693284.

Authors

Joost Grond¹, Magdalena Płecha², Christoph Hahn^{1

3}, Øystein Wiig¹, Lutz Bachmann¹

Affiliations

¹ Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
² Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Center, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.

Abstract

The endangered Spitsbergen stock of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) has once been large with up to estimated 100,000 individuals. Genetic diversity of the extant Spitsbergen stock is unknown. We present 10 complete mitochondrial genomes of heterochronous ancient bowhead whale samples from Svalbard (¹⁴C age estimate range: 215-8885 years) obtained via NGS of total genomic DNA extracts. The ten mitogenomes differed by nucleotide substitutions and/or indels, and there was a total of 160 variable positions. The average nucleotide diversity was π = 0.0029. There was no statistically significant correlation between genetic divergence and time.

Keywords: Ancient DNA; Spitsbergen; Svalbard; baleen whales; mitogenomics.