Supplementary material from "Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records" ...

• Main Authors: S. L. Rodrigues, Ana, Charpentier, Anne, Bernal-Casasola, Darío, Gardeisen, Armelle, Nores, Carlos, Pis Millán, José Antonio, McGrath, Krista, F. Speller, Camilla
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Royal Society 2018
• Subjects: Eubalaena glacialis; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4147193; https://rs.figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_Forgotten_Mediterranean_calving_grounds_of_grey_and_North_Atlantic_right_whales_evidence_from_Roman_archaeological_records_/4147193

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, likely 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 ...