Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers
Abstract Cooperative hunting between humans and killer whales (Orcinus orca) targeting baleen whales was reported in Eden, New South Wales, Australia, for almost a century. By 1928, whaling operations had ceased, and local killer whale sightings became scarce. A killer whale from the group, known as...
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/jhered/esad058 2023-12-31T10:05:02+01:00 Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers Reeves, Isabella M Totterdell, John A Betty, Emma L Donnelly, David M George, Angela Holmes, Steven Moller, Luciana Stockin, Karen A Wellard, Rebecca White, Charlie Foote, Andrew D Baker, C Scott Royal Society of South Australia European Research Council 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad058 https://academic.oup.com/jhered/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/jhered/esad058/52018016/esad058.pdf https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article-pdf/114/6/598/53433510/esad058.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Journal of Heredity volume 114, issue 6, page 598-611 ISSN 0022-1503 1465-7333 Genetics (clinical) Genetics Molecular Biology Biotechnology journal-article 2023 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad058 2023-12-06T08:39:24Z Abstract Cooperative hunting between humans and killer whales (Orcinus orca) targeting baleen whales was reported in Eden, New South Wales, Australia, for almost a century. By 1928, whaling operations had ceased, and local killer whale sightings became scarce. A killer whale from the group, known as “Old Tom,” washed up dead in 1930 and his skeleton was preserved. How these killer whales from Eden relate to other populations globally and whether their genetic descendants persist today remains unknown. We extracted and sequenced DNA from Old Tom using ancient DNA techniques. Genomic sequences were then compared with a global dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Old Tom shared a most recent common ancestor with killer whales from Australasia, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific, having the highest genetic similarity with contemporary New Zealand killer whales. However, much of the variation found in Old Tom’s genome was not shared with these widespread populations, suggesting ancestral rather than ongoing gene flow. Our genetic comparisons also failed to find any clear descendants of Tom, raising the possibility of local extinction of this group. We integrated Traditional Custodian knowledge to recapture the events in Eden and recognize that Indigenous Australians initiated the relationship with the killer whales before European colonization and the advent of commercial whaling locally. This study rectifies discrepancies in local records and provides new insight into the origins of the killer whales in Eden and the history of Australasian killer whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whales Killer Whale North Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Oxford University Press (via Crossref) Journal of Heredity |
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Oxford University Press (via Crossref) |
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croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
topic |
Genetics (clinical) Genetics Molecular Biology Biotechnology |
spellingShingle |
Genetics (clinical) Genetics Molecular Biology Biotechnology Reeves, Isabella M Totterdell, John A Betty, Emma L Donnelly, David M George, Angela Holmes, Steven Moller, Luciana Stockin, Karen A Wellard, Rebecca White, Charlie Foote, Andrew D Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers |
topic_facet |
Genetics (clinical) Genetics Molecular Biology Biotechnology |
description |
Abstract Cooperative hunting between humans and killer whales (Orcinus orca) targeting baleen whales was reported in Eden, New South Wales, Australia, for almost a century. By 1928, whaling operations had ceased, and local killer whale sightings became scarce. A killer whale from the group, known as “Old Tom,” washed up dead in 1930 and his skeleton was preserved. How these killer whales from Eden relate to other populations globally and whether their genetic descendants persist today remains unknown. We extracted and sequenced DNA from Old Tom using ancient DNA techniques. Genomic sequences were then compared with a global dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Old Tom shared a most recent common ancestor with killer whales from Australasia, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific, having the highest genetic similarity with contemporary New Zealand killer whales. However, much of the variation found in Old Tom’s genome was not shared with these widespread populations, suggesting ancestral rather than ongoing gene flow. Our genetic comparisons also failed to find any clear descendants of Tom, raising the possibility of local extinction of this group. We integrated Traditional Custodian knowledge to recapture the events in Eden and recognize that Indigenous Australians initiated the relationship with the killer whales before European colonization and the advent of commercial whaling locally. This study rectifies discrepancies in local records and provides new insight into the origins of the killer whales in Eden and the history of Australasian killer whales. |
author2 |
Baker, C Scott Royal Society of South Australia European Research Council |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Reeves, Isabella M Totterdell, John A Betty, Emma L Donnelly, David M George, Angela Holmes, Steven Moller, Luciana Stockin, Karen A Wellard, Rebecca White, Charlie Foote, Andrew D |
author_facet |
Reeves, Isabella M Totterdell, John A Betty, Emma L Donnelly, David M George, Angela Holmes, Steven Moller, Luciana Stockin, Karen A Wellard, Rebecca White, Charlie Foote, Andrew D |
author_sort |
Reeves, Isabella M |
title |
Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers |
title_short |
Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers |
title_full |
Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers |
title_fullStr |
Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers |
title_sort |
ancestry testing of “old tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad058 https://academic.oup.com/jhered/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/jhered/esad058/52018016/esad058.pdf https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article-pdf/114/6/598/53433510/esad058.pdf |
genre |
baleen whales Killer Whale North Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
genre_facet |
baleen whales Killer Whale North Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
op_source |
Journal of Heredity volume 114, issue 6, page 598-611 ISSN 0022-1503 1465-7333 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esad058 |
container_title |
Journal of Heredity |
_version_ |
1786836526627291136 |