Foote AD Vijay N Ávila-Arcos MC Baird RW Durban JW Fumagalli M Gibbs RA Hanson MB Korneliussen TS Martin MD Robertson KM Sousa VC Vieira FG Vinař T Wade P Worley KC Excoffier L Morin PA Gilbert MTP Wolf JBW 2016 Analysing population genomic data from killer whale ecotypes, which we estimate have globally radiated within less than 250,000 years, we show that genetic structuring including the segregation of potentially functional alleles is associated with socially inherited ecological niche. Reconstruction of ancestral demographic history revealed bottlenecks during founder events, likely promoting ecological divergence and genetic drift resulting in a wide range of genome-wide differentiation between pairs of allopatric and sympatric ecotypes. Functional enrichment analyses provided evidence for regional genomic divergence associated with habitat, dietary preferences and post-zygotic reproductive isolation. Our findings are consistent with expansion of small founder groups into novel niches by an initial plastic behavioural response, perpetuated by social learning imposing an altered natural selection regime. The study constitutes an important step towards an understanding of the complex interaction between demographic history, culture, ecological adaptation and evolution at the genomic level. application/pdf https://sonar.ch/global/documents/278501 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/ncomms11693 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/27243207 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Nature communications. - 2016 Adaptation, Biological Animals Biopsy Ecotype Evolution, Molecular Female Gene-Environment Interaction Genetic Drift Genetic Speciation Genetic Variation Genetics, Population Genome Genomics Male Phylogeny Reproductive Isolation Selection, Genetic Skin Sympatry Whale, Killer Genome-culture coevolution promotes rapid divergence of killer whale ecotypes. http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501