2023/08/30 by Phillip A. Morin, Karen K. Martien, Aimée R. Lang +9 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Biology #Context (archaeology) #Divergence (linguistics) #Ecology #Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies #Evolutionary biology #Gene #Genetic divergence #Genetic diversity #Genetics #Genome #Identification and Quantification in Food #Marine animal studies overview #Mitochondrial DNA #Population #Subspecies #Taxonomic rank #Taxonomy (biology) #mtDNA control region
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/jhered/esad049
openalex publication_date 2023/08/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
In many organisms, especially those of conservation concern, traditional lines of evidence for taxonomic delineation, such as morphological data, are often difficult to obtain. In these cases, genetic data are often the only source of information available for taxonomic studies. In particular, population surveys of mitochondrial genomes offer increased resolution and precision in support of taxonomic decisions relative to conventional use of the control region or other gene fragments of the mitochondrial genome. To improve quantitative guidelines for taxonomic decisions in cetaceans, we build on a previous effort targeting the control region and evaluate, for whole mitogenome sequences, a suite of divergence and diagnosability estimates for pairs of recognized cetacean populations, subspecies, and species. From this overview, we recommend new guidelines based on complete mitogenomes, combined with other types of evidence for isolation and divergence, which will improve resolution for taxonomic decisions, especially in the face of small sample sizes or low levels of genetic diversity. We further use simulated data to assist interpretations of divergence in the context of varying forms of historical demography, culture, and ecology.