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Sex-biased dispersal of great white sharks

Nature volume 412, pages 139–140 (2001)Cite this article

In some respects, these sharks behave more like whales and dolphins than other fish.

Ecological information about populations of great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) has been difficult to acquire, not least because of the rarity and huge size of this fish. Here we use genetic methods to show that the dispersal of C. carcharias is sex-biased, with philopatric (non-roving) females and roving males. In conjunction with other shared life-history features, including low fecundity, long lifespan and late age at maturity, our findings indicate that the population biology of C. carcharias may be more similar to that of marine mammals1,2 than to that of other fish.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Sequence and survey of restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of the mitochondrial-DNA control region from great white shark populations reveals two divergent mitochondrial DNA types (called A and B).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

    Amanda T. Pardini, Catherine S. Jones & Leslie R. Noble

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, 39406, Mississippi, USA

    Brian Kreiser

  3. Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    Brian Kreiser & Andrew P. Martin

  4. CSIRO Marine Research Laboratories, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, 7000, Tasmania, Australia

    Hamish Malcolm, Barry D. Bruce & John D. Stevens

  5. Natal Sharks Board, Private Bag 2, Umhlanga Rocks, 4320, South Africa

    Geremy Cliff

  6. PO Box 1258, Gansbaai, 7220, Western Cape, South Africa

    Michael C. Scholl

  7. National Institute of Water, Atmospheric Research, PO Box 14-901, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand

    Malcolm Francis

  8. Department of Conservation, Scientific & Research Unit, PO Box 112, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Clinton A.J. Duffy

Authors
  1. Amanda T. Pardini
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  2. Catherine S. Jones
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  3. Leslie R. Noble
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  4. Brian Kreiser
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  6. Barry D. Bruce
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Correspondence to Amanda T. Pardini.

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Pardini, A., Jones, C., Noble, L. et al. Sex-biased dispersal of great white sharks. Nature 412, 139–140 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35084125

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