Myself and co-authors are happy to announce the publication of the following research in Plos One:
Hybridization in bottlenose dolphins - A case study of Tursiops aduncus × T. truncatus hybrids and successful backcross hybridization events Authors:T. Gridley, S. H. Elwen, G. Harris, D. M. Moore, A. R. Hoelzel, F. Lampen *Abstract: * The bottlenose dolphin, genus *Tursiops* is one of the best studied of all the Cetacea with a minimum of two species widely recognised. Common bottlenose dolphins (*T. truncatus*), are the cetacean species most frequently held in captivity and are known to hybridize with species from at least 6 different genera. In this study, we document several intra-generic hybridization events between *T. truncatus* and *T. aduncus* held in captivity. We demonstrate that the F1 hybrids are fertile and can backcross producing apparently healthy offspring, thereby showing introgressive inter-specific hybridization within the genus. We document that female F1 hybrids can reach sexual maturity at 4 yr and 3 mo of age, and can become pregnant and give birth before being fully weaned. The information presented has implications for understanding hybrid reticulation among cetacean species and practical implications for captive facilities housing either *Tursiops* species or hybrids thereof. pdfs can be downloaded from this link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/comments?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0201722 Kind Regards Tess Gridley -- --------------------------------------------------- Join us! The first *African Bioacoustics Community conference will be held in Cape Town on the **3rd-7th December 2018*. https://africanbioacoustic.wixsite.com/abcommunity https://www.facebook.com/africanbioacousticscommunity/ Tess Gridley PhD Namibian Dolphin Project & Sea Search www.namibiandolphinproject.o <http://www.namibiandolphinproject.com>rg www.seasearch.co.za Centre for Statistics in Ecology, Environment and Conservation, Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa Tel: 021 788 1206 Cell: 0794292702 Skype: tess.gridley
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