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      Oceanic circulation models help to predict global biogeography of pelagic yellow-bellied sea snake

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          Abstract

          It is well recognized that most marine vertebrates, and especially tetrapods, precisely orient and actively move in apparently homogeneous oceanic environments. Here, we investigate the presumptive role of oceanic currents in biogeographic patterns observed in a secondarily marine tetrapod, the yellow-bellied sea snake ( Hydrophis [ Pelamis] platurus). State-of-the-art world ocean circulation models show how H. platurus, the only pelagic species of sea snake, can potentially exploit oceanic currents to disperse and maintain population mixing between localities that spread over two-thirds of the Earth's circumference. The very close association of these snakes with surface currents seems to provide a highly efficient dispersal mechanism that allowed this species to range extensively and relatively quickly well beyond the central Indo-Pacific area, the centre of origin, abundance and diversity of sea snakes. Our results further suggest that the pan-oceanic population of this species must be extraordinarily large.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Biol Lett
          Biol. Lett
          RSBL
          roybiolett
          Biology Letters
          The Royal Society
          1744-9561
          1744-957X
          August 2016
          : 12
          : 8
          : 20160436
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CEBC-CNRS UMR 7372 , 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
          [2 ] LOCEAN Laboratory, Sorbonne Universités (UPMC, Univ Paris 06)-CNRS-IRD-MNHN , 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
          [3 ] Department of Biology, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL 32611-8525, USA
          [4 ] South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences) , 2 Hamra Avenue, West Beach, Adelaide, South Australia 5024, Australia
          [5 ] Department of Marine Ecosystems, Satellite Oceanography Division, Collecte Localisation Satellites , 31520 Ramonville, France
          Author notes
          Author information
          http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5788-1326
          http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6410-4832
          Article
          PMC5014037 PMC5014037 5014037 rsbl20160436
          10.1098/rsbl.2016.0436
          5014037
          27555651
          5ab66996-34d1-43b3-9795-2669fc184096
          © 2016 The Author(s)

          Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

          History
          : 23 May 2016
          : 4 August 2016
          Funding
          Funded by: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004794;
          Funded by: National Science Foundation, http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001;
          Award ID: IOS-0926802
          Categories
          1001
          14
          60
          70
          Marine Biology
          Custom metadata
          August, 2016

          biogeography,Indo-Pacific oceans,drifting,oceanic currents,sea snake

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