Dear marmammers, I'm pleased to announce the publication of the following paper: Cunha HA, Moraes LC, Medeiros BV, Lailson-Brito JJr, da Silva VMF, Solé-Cava AM, Schrago CG (2011). Phylogenetic Status and Timescale for the Diversification of Steno and Sotalia Dolphins. Plos One, v. 6, p. e28297-e28297. The pdf is available at the journal site: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0028297. Alternatively, address pdf requests to haydeecunha@ufrj.br. Cheers, Haydée Abstract Molecular data have provided many insights into cetacean evolution but some unsettled issues still remain. We estimated the topology and timing of cetacean evolutionary relationships using Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of complete mitochondrial genomes. In order to clarify the phylogenetic placement of Sotalia and Steno within the Delphinidae, we sequenced three new delphinid mitogenomes. Our analyses support three delphinid clades: one joining Steno and Sotalia (supporting the revised subfamily Stenoninae); another placing Sousa within the Delphininae; and a third, the Globicephalinae, which includes Globicephala, Feresa, Pseudorca, Peponocephala and Grampus. We also conclude that Orcinus does not belong in the Globicephalinae, but Orcaella may be part of that subfamily. Divergence dates were estimated using the relaxed molecular clock calibrated with fossil data. We hypothesise that the timing of separation of the marine and Amazonian Sotalia species (2.3 Ma) coincided with the establishment of the modern Amazon River basin. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Haydée A. Cunha, PhD Laboratório de Biodiversidade Molecular (UFRJ)/ MAQUA - Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos e Bioindicadores (UERJ) Dept. de Genética, Inst. de Biologia Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ CCS, Bloco A, Sl. A2-098. Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil. +55 21 2562-6389/2334-0065/9981-8382