Whole-genome re-sequencing of the Baikal seal and other phocid seals for a glimpse into their genetic diversity, demographic history, and phylogeny

Here we report the genome sequences of six Baikal seals, and one individual of the Caspian seal and the harbor seal, resequenced from Illumina paired-end short read data. Heterozygosity calculations of the six newly sequenced individuals are similar to the previously reported genomes. In addition, the novel genome data of the additional seals contributed to a more complete phocid seal phylogeny based on whole-genome data.