Pomilla Cristina, Rosenbaum Howard C
Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Biol Lett. 2005 Dec 22;1(4):476-9. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0351.
Humpback whales seasonally migrate long distances between tropical and polar regions. However, inter-oceanic exchange is rare and difficult to document. Using skin biopsy samples collected in the Indian Ocean and in the South Atlantic Ocean, and a genetic capture-recapture approach based on microsatellite genotyping, we were able to reveal the first direct genetic evidence of the inter-oceanic migration of a male humpback whale. This exceptional migration to wintering grounds of two different ocean basins questions traditional notions of fidelity to an ocean basin, and demonstrates how the behaviour of highly mobile species may be elucidated from combining genetics with long-term field studies. Our finding has implications for management of humpback whale populations, as well as for hypotheses concerning cultural transmission of behaviour.
座头鲸季节性地在热带和极地之间远距离迁徙。然而，跨洋交流很少见且难以记录。利用在印度洋和南大西洋采集的皮肤活检样本，以及基于微卫星基因分型的遗传捕获-重捕方法，我们得以揭示一头雄性座头鲸跨洋迁徙的首个直接遗传证据。这种迁徙到两个不同大洋盆地越冬地的特殊行为对传统的忠于一个大洋盆地的观念提出了质疑，并展示了如何通过将遗传学与长期野外研究相结合来阐明高度移动物种的行为。我们的发现对座头鲸种群的管理以及行为文化传播的假说都有影响。
