[MARMAM] New publication on Saimaa ringed seal moulting site fidelity

[Vincent Biard]

Dear MARMAM community, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the publication of our article ”Extreme moulting site fidelity of the Saimaa ringed seal” in Mammalian Biology. Vincent Biard, Milaja Nykänen, Marja Niemi, Mervi Kunnasranta. Abstract: Site fidelity is commonly observed in pinnipeds and has direct consequences for individual space use and population dynamics. Here, we used photo-identification recapture data to quantify site fidelity of the endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) over four successive moulting seasons. We identified 337 seals based on their permanent fur patterns, and 192 of them were observed during at least 2 years. Over the study period, the median number of terrestrial haul-out sites used by an individual seal was four, and nearly 50% of the seals reused them over the years. Although eight seals performed movements (up to 48 km) between the different water basins of Lake Saimaa, most of the studied seals remained in the same water basin over the years. The median distance between successive moulting sites used by an individual seal was 643 m. While these distances were similar within years in both sexes, the distances between years were longer in females, suggesting post-nursing related behaviour. The extreme site fidelity of the Saimaa ringed seal has important implications for its conservation, especially in the land use management of the Lake Saimaa shoreline. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-021-00209-z Best, Vincent Biard
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[MARMAM] PhD student position in Saimaa ringed seal conservation biology

[Vincent Biard]

Dear colleagues, The Saimaa ringed seal research team, University of Eastern Finland, is looking for a PhD student in conservation biology. The main objective of the PhD project is to enhance our understanding of the behavioural ecology of the Saimaa ringed seal and to provide novel tools for conservation and monitoring of this endangered population.  Further details on the position and application threw the following link:https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/C1254856EE95E81C Please, diffuse within your organisation. Best regards, on behalf of the Saimaa ringed seal research team, UEFVincent Biard
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[MARMAM] New Publication: "Genomic and proteomic identification of Late Holocene remains: Setting baselines for Black Sea odontocetes"

[vincent biard]

Dear MARMAM readers,

My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the recent publication of the 
following article in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

“Genomic and proteomic identification of Late Holocene remains: Setting 
baselines for Black Sea odontocetes”.

By: Vincent Biard, Pavel Gol’din, Elena Gladilina, Karina Vishnyakova, Krista 
McGrath, Filipe G. Vieira, Nathan Wales, Michael C. Fontaine, Camilla Speller 
and Morten Tange Olsen.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 15C (2017) pp. 262-271 ; DOI: 
10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.07.008

Open Access: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Vajq,rVDBJ-p4 
<https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Vajq,rVDBJ-p4>

Abstract: 

A critical challenge of the 21st century is to understand and minimise the 
effects of human activities on bio- diversity. Cetaceans are a prime concern in 
biodiversity research, as many species still suffer from human im- pacts 
despite decades of management and conservation efforts. Zooarchaeology 
constitutes a valuable approach for informing conservation and management 
decisions by providing baseline information on the past distribution and human 
uses of species. However, traditional morphological species identification of 
mixed assemblage bones can be challenging, particularly in the case of 
cetaceans. To address this issue, we applied and evaluated the performance of 
three biomolecular approaches – Sanger sequencing, shotgun sequencing and 
collagen peptide fingerprinting (ZooMS) – for species identification in a mixed 
assemblage of 800 to 1600 years old odontocete (toothed whale) samples from the 
site of Chersonesus in Crimea, Ukraine. We found that ZooMS allowed for 
identification to the taxonomic level for 28 of our 30 samples (> 90%), 
identifying them as either “porpoise” or “dolphin”, and approximately half of 
those samples could be further identified to species level with the shotgun 
sequencing approach. In addition, shotgun sequencing produced several complete 
ancient odontocete mito- genomes and auxiliary nuclear genomic data for further 
exploration in a population genetic context. In contrast, both morphological 
identification and Sanger sequencing lacked taxonomic resolution and/or 
resulted in mis- classification of samples. We found that the combination of 
ZooMS and shotgun sequencing provides a powerful tool in zooarchaeology, and 
here allowed for a deeper understanding of past marine resource use and its im- 
plication for current management and conservation of Black Sea odontocetes. 

For any questions, please feel free to contact me : vincentbiar...@gmail.com 
<mailto:vincentbiar...@gmail.com>

Cheers

Vincent Biard, MSc
Natural History Museum of Denmark





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