The common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is a cosmopolitan delphinid, regularly present in the Mediterranean Sea. According to previous studies, this dolphin tends to form resident geographical units scattered on the continental shelf. We investigated how the physiographic characteristics of the area of residence, with special reference to the size and shape of the continental shelf, affect the home range and the gro...

The mechanisms that determine population structure in highly mobile marine species are poorly understood, but useful towards understanding the evolution of diversity, and essential for effective conservation and management. In this study, we compare putative sperm whale populations located in the Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and North Sea using mtDNA control region sequence data and 16 polymorphic...

We investigated hierarchical patterns of genetic subdivision, and assessed kinship within and between social groups of striped dolphins ( Stenella coeruleoalba ) in the Tyrrhenian Sea . A total of 165 samples were analysed at eight microsatellite DNA loci, including outgroup samples from the Adriatic, Scotland and Spain for population‐level comparisons. We found population genetic structure within the Mediterranean basin, incl...