Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 10, 960-970, Copyright © 1993 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
U Arnason, A Gullberg and B Widegren
The sequence of the mitochondrial control region was determined in all 10
extant species commonly assigned to the suborder Mysticeti (baleen or
whalebone whales) and to two odontocete (toothed whale) species (the sperm
and the pygmy sperm whale). In the mysticetes, both the length and the
sequence of the control region were very similar, with differences
occurring primarily in the first approximately 160 bp of the 5' end of the
L-strand of the region. There were marked differences between the mysticete
and sperm whale sequences and also between the two sperm whales. The
control region, less its variable portion, was used in a comparison
including the 10 mysticete sequences plus the same region of an Antarctic
minke whale specimen and the two sperm whales. The difference between the
minke whales from the North Atlantic and the Antarctic was greater than
that between any acknowledged species belonging to the same genus
(Balaenoptera). The difference was similar to that between the families
Balaenopteridae (rorquals) and Eschrichtiidae (gray whales). The findings
suggest that the Antarctic minke whale should have a full species status,
B. bonaerensis. Parsimony analysis separated the bowhead and the right
whale (family Balaenidae) from all remaining mysticetes, including the
pygmy right whale. The pygmy right whale is usually included in family
Balaenidae. The analysis revealed a close relationship between the gray
whale (family Eschrichtiidae) sequence and those of the rorquals (family
Balaenopteridae). The gray whale was included in a clade together with the
sei, Bryde's, fin, blue, and humpback whales. This clade was separated from
the two minke whale types, which branched together.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Cetacean mitochondrial DNA control region: sequences of all extant baleen whales and two sperm whale species
Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Lund, Sweden.
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