Beaked whales have recently been reported in the South China Sea but with taxonomic uncertainty due to their ambiguous morphological features. Here, we sequenced three genetic markers, the control region (CR) and cytochrome b ( cytb ) of the mitochondrial genome and the first intron of the nuclear muscle actin gene ACTA2 , of two biopsy samples collected in 2021, and revealed unambiguous clustering with sequences previously at...

The rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis), the single extant species of the genus Steno, inhabits tropical and subtropical oceans. It is an attractive species for studying aquatic adaptation and evolution. The latest advances in high-throughput sequencing are transforming the study of marine mammals and contributing to understanding various phenomena at the species and population level by determining high-quality genomes....