Genetic diversity of historical Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Bjørnøya and Håøya (Tusenøyane), Svalbard, Norway

• Main Authors: Lindqvist, Charlotte, Roy, Tilottama, Lydersen, Christian, Kovacs, Kit, Aars, Jon, Wiig, Øystein, Bachmann, Lutz
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central Ltd. 2016
• Subjects: Ancient DNA; Genetic bottleneck; Mitochondrial DNA; Over-exploitation; Sequence diversity; Spitsbergen; Bjørnøya; Norway; Svalbard; Tusenøyane; Odobenus rosmarus; walrus*
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/9/112

Abstract Background The population size of Atlantic walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus ) is depleted relative to historical abundance levels. In Svalbard, centuries of over-exploitation brought the walrus herds to the verge of extinction, and such bottlenecks may have caused loss of genetic varia...