DNA capture reveals transoceanic gene flow in endangered river sharks
Abstract
The river sharks of the genus Glyphis, widely feared as man-eaters throughout India, remain very poorly known to science. The group constitutes five described species, all of which are considered highly endangered and restricted to freshwater systems in Australasia and Southeast Asia. DNA sequence data derived from 19th-century dried museum material augmented with contemporary samples indicates that only three of the five currently described species are valid; that there is a genetically distinct, but as-yet-undescribed, species recorded in Bangladesh and Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo; and that these iconic and mysterious sharks are not restricted to freshwater at all but rather appear to be adapted to both marine and freshwater habitats.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- October 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1508735112
- Bibcode:
- 2015PNAS..11213302L