A survey of the oral cavity microbiome of New Zealand fur seal pups (Arctocephalus forsteri)

Abstract

New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri (NZFS hereafter), experienced a catastrophic decline in population size with the onset of commercial sealing in the southern hemisphere, from the 18th to the early 19th century (Lento, Mattlin, Chambers, & Baker, 1994). Despite the remarkable subsequent recovery from the brink of extinction, the future of the species remains uncertain. The extent of the impact of the historical bottleneck on the NZFS's evolutionary potential and their long‐term survival and expansion are yet to be fully understood (Dussex et al., 2016, 2018; Emami‐Khoyi et al., 2016, 2018).