Ancient genes vital for dolphin survival

Ancient genes that predate the last ice age may be the key to survival, at least if you are a dolphin, according to new research led by the University of St Andrews and involving Michael Fontaine, who was working on this project while at the Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES). The results were published in Science Advances on 27 October.

Reference: Louis M, Galimberti M, Archer F, Berrow S, Brownlow A, Fallon R, Nykänen M, O’Brien J, Roberston KM, Rosel PE, Simon-Bouhet B, Wegmann D, Fontaine MC, Foote AD, Gaggiotti OE (2021). Selection on ancestral genetic variation fuels repeated ecotype formation in bottlenose dolphins. Science Advances 44(7): eabg1245, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abg1245.