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Reeves IM, Totterdell JA, Betty EL, Donnelly DM, George A, Holmes S, Moller L, Stockin KA, Wellard R, White C, Foote AD. Ancestry testing of "Old Tom," a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers. J Hered 2023; 114:598-611. [PMID: 37821799 PMCID: PMC10650950 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esad058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Cooperative hunting between humans and killer whales (Orcinus orca) targeting baleen whales was reported in Eden, New South Wales, Australia, for almost a century. By 1928, whaling operations had ceased, and local killer whale sightings became scarce. A killer whale from the group, known as "Old Tom," washed up dead in 1930 and his skeleton was preserved. How these killer whales from Eden relate to other populations globally and whether their genetic descendants persist today remains unknown. We extracted and sequenced DNA from Old Tom using ancient DNA techniques. Genomic sequences were then compared with a global dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Old Tom shared a most recent common ancestor with killer whales from Australasia, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific, having the highest genetic similarity with contemporary New Zealand killer whales. However, much of the variation found in Old Tom's genome was not shared with these widespread populations, suggesting ancestral rather than ongoing gene flow. Our genetic comparisons also failed to find any clear descendants of Tom, raising the possibility of local extinction of this group. We integrated Traditional Custodian knowledge to recapture the events in Eden and recognize that Indigenous Australians initiated the relationship with the killer whales before European colonization and the advent of commercial whaling locally. This study rectifies discrepancies in local records and provides new insight into the origins of the killer whales in Eden and the history of Australasian killer whales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabella M Reeves
- Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Bedford Park, Adelaide,South Australia, Australia
- Cetacean Research Centre (CETREC WA), Esperance, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - John A Totterdell
- Cetacean Research Centre (CETREC WA), Esperance, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Emma L Betty
- Cetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - David M Donnelly
- Killer Whales Australia, Mornington, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Angela George
- Eden Killer Whale Museum, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Steven Holmes
- Eden Killer Whale Museum, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Luciana Moller
- Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Bedford Park, Adelaide,South Australia, Australia
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Molecular Ecology Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Karen A Stockin
- Cetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | | | - Charlie White
- Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Bedford Park, Adelaide,South Australia, Australia
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Andrew D Foote
- Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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