ArticleNature ecology & evolution2024
Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Homozygosity Accumulated Through Genetic Drift and Inbreeding Underpins High Mutation Load in an Endangered Beluga Whale Population.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Genome assembly and annotation of a deep-diving pinniped, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris).The Journal of heredity · 2026Article
- Pangolin museum genomics reveal the dynamic genetic consequences and extinction risk of the critically endangered Chinese pangolin.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Multispecies pangenomes reveal a pervasive influence of population size on structural variation.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Persistent Genomic Erosion in Whooping Cranes Despite Demographic Recovery.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Host Co-Occurrence and Population Size Explain Genetic Differentiation and Diversity in Seal Lice.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- A fixed mutation in the respiratory complex I impairs mitochondrial bioenergetics in the endangered Apennine brown bear.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Predicted deleterious mutations reveal the genetic architecture of male reproductive success in a lekking bird.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
- Opinion: Why Sex-Based Genomic Differentiation Should Not Be Overlooked in Population Genetics.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Genetic purging in an island-endemic pigeon recovering from the brink of extinction.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Range-Wide Genomic Analysis Reveals Regional and Meta-Population Dynamics of Decline and Recovery in the Grey Seal.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Sustainability in the laboratory: evaluating the reusability of microtitre plates for PCR and fragment detection.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Reference genome of the leopard seal (Frontiers in genetics · 2025Article
- Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024Article
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15 authors.
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Abstract
Understanding the genetic and fitness consequences of anthropogenic bottlenecks is crucial for biodiversity conservation. However, studies of bottlenecked populations combining genomic approaches with fitness data are rare. Theory predicts that severe bottlenecks deplete genetic diversity, exacerbate inbreeding depression and decrease population viability. However, actual outcomes are complex and depend on how a species' unique demography affects its genetic load. We used population genetic and veterinary pathology data, demographic modelling, whole-genome resequencing and forward genetic simulations to investigate the genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal. We found no evidence of inbreeding depression within the contemporary population for key fitness components, including body mass, blubber thickness and susceptibility to parasites and disease. However, we detected a genomic signature of a recent extreme bottleneck (effective population size = 6; 95% confidence interval = 5.0-7.5) that will have purged much of the genetic load, potentially leading to the lack of observed inbreeding depression in our study. Our results further suggest that deleterious genetic variation strongly impacted the post-bottleneck population dynamics of the northern elephant seal. Our study provides comprehensive empirical insights into the intricate dynamics underlying species-specific responses to anthropogenic bottlenecks.
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