Data from: Genetic evidence of a population bottleneck and inbreeding in the endangered New Zealand sea lion, Phocarctos hookeri ...

• Main Authors: Osborne, Amy J., Negro, Sandra S., Chilvers, B. Louise, Robertson, Bruce C., Kennedy, Martin A., Gemmell, Neil J.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2016
• Subjects: Conservation genetics and biodiversity; Population structure and phylogeography; Phocarctos hookeri; Antarctic; New Zealand; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.s089p; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.s089p

The New Zealand sea lion (NZSL) is of high conservation concern due to its limited distribution and its declining population size. Historically it occupied most of coastal New Zealand, but is now restricted to a few coastal sites in southern mainland New Zealand and the sub-Antarctic Islands. NZSLs have experienced a recent reduction in population size due to sealing in the 1900s, which is expected to have resulted in increased inbreeding and a loss of genetic variation, potentially reducing the evolutionary capacity of the species and negatively impacting on its long-term prospects for survival. We used 17 microsatellite loci, previously shown to have cross-species applications in pinnipeds, to determine locus- and population-specific statistics for 1205 NZSLs from seven consecutive breeding seasons. We show that the NZSL population has a moderate level of genetic diversity in comparison to other pinnipeds. We provide genetic evidence for a population reduction, likely caused by historical sealing, and a ... : New Zealand sea lion microsatellite dataset1205 NZSL individuals at 17 microsatellite loci.NZSL msat data for Dryad.xlsx ...