Molecular Evidence for Twinning in Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes Weddellii)

• Main Authors: Gelatt, Thomas S., Davis, Corey S., Siniff, Donald B., Strobeck, Curtis
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2001
• Subjects: Feature Articles; McMurdo Sound; Weddell; Erebus Bay; Antarc*; Antarctica; Weddell Seals
• Online Access: http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/82/2/491; https://doi.org/10.1644/1545-1542(2001)082<0491:MEFTIW>2.0.CO;2

We used microsatellite genotyping to determine the genetic relatedness of 7 apparent twin dyads of Weddell seals ( Leptonychotes weddellii ) born in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Genetic evidence for twinning in wild pinnipeds has not been reported previously. A review of 14 years of demographic data c...