Elephant Seal Bottleneck

Impact of a population bottleneck on symmetry and genetic diversity in the northern elephant seal

Link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:2048/doi/10.1046/j.1420-9101.2002.00419.x/full?systemMessage=Due+to+scheduled+maintenance%2C+access+to+Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+disrupted+on+Saturday%2C+5th+Feb+between+10%3A00-12%3A00+GMT

The northern elephant seal suffered a severe population bottleneck towards the end of the nineteenth century. Expectations for the impact of population bottlenecks include the loss of genetic diversity and a loss of fitness however; there are few direct demonstrations in natural populations. This research paper compares archive samples collected prior to and following the northern elephant seal population bottleneck. Measures of genetic diversity show a loss of variation consistent with expectations and suggest a strong disruption in the pattern of allele frequencies following the bottleneck. Measures of bilateral characters show an increase in fluctuating asymmetry.