Genomic analyses reveal an absence of contemporary introgressive admixture between fin whales and blue whales, despite known hybrids

Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and blue whales (B. musculus) are the two largest species on Earth and are widely distributed across the world's oceans. Hybrids between these species appear to be relatively widespread and have been reported in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific; they are also relatively common, and have been proposed to occur once in every thousand fin whales. However, despite known hybridization, fin and blue whales are not sibling species. Rather, the closest living relative of fin whales are humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). To improve the quality of fin whale data available for analysis, we assembled and annotated a fin whale nuclear genome using in-silico mate pair libraries and previously published short-read data. Using this assembly and genomic data from a humpback, blue, and bowhead whale, we investigated whether signatures of introgression between the fin and blue whale could be found. We find no signatures of contemporary admixture in the fin and blue whale genomes, although our analyses support ancestral gene flow between the species until 2.4-1.3 Ma. We propose the following explanations for our findings; i) fin/blue whale hybridization does not occur in the populations our samples originate from, ii) contemporary hybrids are a recent phenomenon and the genetic consequences have yet to become widespread across populations, or iii) fin/blue whale hybrids are under large negative selection, preventing them from backcrossing and contributing to the parental gene pools

Non-dynamic origin of the acoustic attenuation at high frequency in glasses

The sound attenuation in the THz region is studied down to T=16 K in glassy glycerol by inelastic x-ray scattering. At striking variance with the decrease found below 100 K in the GHz data, the attenuation in the THz range does not show any T dependence. This result i) indicates the presence of two different attenuation mechanisms, active respectively in the high and low frequency limits; ii) demonstrates the non-dynamic origin of the attenuation of THz sound waves, and confirms a similar conclusion obtained in SiO2 glass by molecular dynamics; and iii) supports the low frequency attenuation mechanism proposed by Fabian and Allen (Phys.Rev.Lett. 82, 1478 (1999)).Comment: 3 pages, 5 Figures, To be published in PR

Residual Symmetries in the Spectrum of Periodically Driven Alkali Rydberg States

We identify a fundamental structure in the spectrum of microwave driven alkali Rydberg states, which highlights the remnants of the Coulomb symmetry in the presence of a non-hydrogenic core. Core-induced corrections with respect to the hydrogen spectrum can be accounted for by a perturbative approach.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Europhysics Letter