Marine Mammal Ecology and Evolution in the Tange Olsen Group

The marine mammal group takes a holistic approach to understand the ecology and evolution of marine mammals.

Research focus

The marine mammal group takes a holistic approach to understand the ecology and evolution of marine mammals. This includes the use of ancient, environmental and modern DNA analyses, geometric morphometrics, stable isotopes and observations in the wild to study the effects of environmental change, pathogens, and human impacts with a particular focus on Arctic and North Atlantic species.

The group works closely with the Natural History Museum of Denmark, teaches various courses at the University of Copenhagen, and is strongly involved in PhD, MSc and BSc student training.

Key publications

Link to all publications.

Main Findings

Disappearance of Icelandic walruses coincided with Norse settlement
Xénia Keighley, Snæbjörn Pálsson, Bjarni F Einarsson, Aevar Petersen, Meritxell Fernández-Coll, Peter Jordan, Morten Tange Olsen Hilmar J Malmquist. 2019. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 36:2656-2667
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz196

Raising your voice: evolution of narrow-band high-frequency signals in toothed whales (Odontoceti)
Xénia Keighley, Snæbjörn Pálsson, Bjarni F Einarsson, Aevar Petersen, Meritxell Fernández-Coll, Peter Jordan, Morten Tange Olsen, Hilmar J Malmquist. 2018. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 126(1): 213-224.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/bly194

Phylogenomic insights to the origin and spread of phocine distemper virus in European harbour seals in 1988 and 2002
Iben Stokholm, Tero Härkönen, Karin C. Harding, Ursula Siebert, Kristina Lehnert, Rune Dietz, Jonas Teilmann, Anders Galatius, Linnea Worsøe Havmøller, Emma L. Carroll, Ailsa Hall, Morten Tange Olsen. 2019. DAO. 133:47-56.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03328

Funding sources

EU Horizon2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks (“ArchSci2020” and “SeaChanges”)
EU Horizon2020 BONUS (“BaltHealth”)
Volkswagen (“Research in Museums”)
Carlsberg Foundation (“Gentle Giants”)
Villum Foundation (“Seal Plague”)
Hartmann Fonden (“Greenlandic Porpoises”)
Office of Naval Research (“Beaked Whales”)
Norwegian Research Council (“WhaleFeast”)
Danish Ministry of Environment and Food (“ Seal-Fisheries Conflicts” and “Baltic Sea Cod"

Group Leader

Morten Tange Olsen
Assistant Professor

Phone: +45 42 66 15 25
E-mail: morten.olsen@sund.ku.dk

Group members

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