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Genome insights give cause for optimism in the ongoing battle to save the vaquita
Author(s) -
Whibley Annabel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
molecular ecology resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.96
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1755-0998
pISSN - 1755-098X
DOI - 10.1111/1755-0998.13345
Subject(s) - biology , porpoise , iucn red list , phocoena , bycatch , biodiversity , endangered species , population , critically endangered , genomics , population genomics , ecology , genome , fishery , genetics , fishing , environmental health , medicine , harbour , habitat , computer science , gene , programming language
Whilst the global threat to biodiversity is accelerating, recent advances in sequencing and assembly technologies, along with decreasing costs, are ushering in a golden age for biodiversity genomics. In a From the Cover article in this issue of Molecular Ecology Resources , Morin et al . report an exceptionally high‐quality draft genome assembly of the vaquita ( Phocoena sinus ), a porpoise first described in 1958 and currently numbering fewer than 20 individuals in the wild. On the brink of extinction and described as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a precipitous population decline since the 1990 s has been due to bycatch in gillnets in the Upper Gulf of California.