I was fascinated to read about the latest on the elusive great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) of the Mediterranean Sea. The provenance of white sharks in the Mediterranean is a mystery and an important conservation issue. New research indicates that white sharks of the Mediterranean Sea may be descended from a single small Australian population that lost its bearings while visiting South Africa 450,000 years ago.
Dr Leslie Noble of the University of Aberdeen says the sharks were probably returning to the Antipodes but became trapped after passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. The sharks got lost during the Pleistocene epoch, around 450,000 years ago.
Details if the research appear in the latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Antipodean white sharks on a Mediterranean walkabout? Historical dispersal leads to genetic discontinuity and an endangered anomalous population
1. Chrysoula Gubili1,2,†, Raşit Bilgin3,†, Evrim Kalkan3,†,S. Ünsal Karhan4,†, Catherine S. Jones1,†,David W. Sims2,5,Hakan Kabasakal6, Andrew P. Martin7 and Leslie R. Noble1,*
Author Affiliations
1. 1Institute of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Aberdeen,Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK
2. 2Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK
3. 3Institute of Environmental Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Hisar Campus, Bebek, Istanbul TR-34342, Turkey
4. 4Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, Istanbul TR-34134, Turkey
5. 5Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Marine Institute, School of Marine Sciences and Engineering, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
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