Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records
Right whales ( Eubalaena glacialis ) were extirpated from the eastern North Atlantic by commercial whaling. Grey whales ( Eschrichtius robustus ) disappeared from the entire North Atlantic in still-mysterious circumstances. Here, we test the hypotheses that both species previously occurred in the Me...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 2024-09-15T18:05:10+00:00 Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records Rodrigues, Ana S. L. Charpentier, Anne Bernal-Casasola, Darío Gardeisen, Armelle Nores, Carlos Pis Millán, José Antonio McGrath, Krista Speller, Camilla F. Agence Nationale de la Recherche Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de Montpellier MINECO Government of Spain/Feder 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 285, issue 1882, page 20180961 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2018 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 2024-08-05T04:35:25Z Right whales ( Eubalaena glacialis ) were extirpated from the eastern North Atlantic by commercial whaling. Grey whales ( Eschrichtius robustus ) disappeared from the entire North Atlantic in still-mysterious circumstances. Here, we test the hypotheses that both species previously occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, an area not currently considered part of their historical range. We used ancient DNA barcoding and collagen fingerprinting methods to taxonomically identify a rare set of 10 presumed whale bones from Roman and pre-Roman archaeological sites in the Strait of Gibraltar region, plus an additional bone from the Asturian coast. We identified three right whales, and three grey whales, demonstrating that the ranges of both of these species historically encompassed the Gibraltar region, probably including the Mediterranean Sea as calving grounds. Our results significantly extend the known range of the Atlantic grey whale, and suggest that 2000 years ago, right and grey whales were common when compared with other whale species. The disappearance of right and grey whales from the Mediterranean region is likely to have been accompanied by broader ecosystem impacts, including the disappearance of their predators (killer whales) and a reduction in marine primary productivity. The evidence that these two coastal and highly accessible species were present along the shores of the Roman Empire raises the hypothesis that they may have formed the basis of a forgotten whaling industry. Article in Journal/Newspaper Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285 1882 20180961 |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Right whales ( Eubalaena glacialis ) were extirpated from the eastern North Atlantic by commercial whaling. Grey whales ( Eschrichtius robustus ) disappeared from the entire North Atlantic in still-mysterious circumstances. Here, we test the hypotheses that both species previously occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, an area not currently considered part of their historical range. We used ancient DNA barcoding and collagen fingerprinting methods to taxonomically identify a rare set of 10 presumed whale bones from Roman and pre-Roman archaeological sites in the Strait of Gibraltar region, plus an additional bone from the Asturian coast. We identified three right whales, and three grey whales, demonstrating that the ranges of both of these species historically encompassed the Gibraltar region, probably including the Mediterranean Sea as calving grounds. Our results significantly extend the known range of the Atlantic grey whale, and suggest that 2000 years ago, right and grey whales were common when compared with other whale species. The disappearance of right and grey whales from the Mediterranean region is likely to have been accompanied by broader ecosystem impacts, including the disappearance of their predators (killer whales) and a reduction in marine primary productivity. The evidence that these two coastal and highly accessible species were present along the shores of the Roman Empire raises the hypothesis that they may have formed the basis of a forgotten whaling industry. |
author2 |
Agence Nationale de la Recherche Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de Montpellier MINECO Government of Spain/Feder |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rodrigues, Ana S. L. Charpentier, Anne Bernal-Casasola, Darío Gardeisen, Armelle Nores, Carlos Pis Millán, José Antonio McGrath, Krista Speller, Camilla F. |
spellingShingle |
Rodrigues, Ana S. L. Charpentier, Anne Bernal-Casasola, Darío Gardeisen, Armelle Nores, Carlos Pis Millán, José Antonio McGrath, Krista Speller, Camilla F. Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records |
author_facet |
Rodrigues, Ana S. L. Charpentier, Anne Bernal-Casasola, Darío Gardeisen, Armelle Nores, Carlos Pis Millán, José Antonio McGrath, Krista Speller, Camilla F. |
author_sort |
Rodrigues, Ana S. L. |
title |
Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records |
title_short |
Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records |
title_full |
Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records |
title_fullStr |
Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records |
title_full_unstemmed |
Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records |
title_sort |
forgotten mediterranean calving grounds of grey and north atlantic right whales: evidence from roman archaeological records |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 |
genre |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 285, issue 1882, page 20180961 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
285 |
container_issue |
1882 |
container_start_page |
20180961 |
_version_ |
1810442746232569856 |