Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens (Aug 2021)

Accurate Epigenetic Aging in Bottlenose Dolphins (<i>Tursiops truncatus</i>), an Essential Step in the Conservation of at-Risk Dolphins

  • Ashley Barratclough,
  • Cynthia R. Smith,
  • Forrest M. Gomez,
  • Theoni Photopoulou,
  • Ryan Takeshita,
  • Enrico Pirotta,
  • Len Thomas,
  • Abby M. McClain,
  • Celeste Parry,
  • Joseph A. Zoller,
  • Steve Horvath,
  • Lori H. Schwacke

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg2030030
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 3
pp. 416 – 420

Abstract

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Epigenetics, specifically DNA methylation, allows for the estimation of animal age from blood or remotely sampled skin. This multi-tissue epigenetic age estimation clock uses 110 longitudinal samples from 34 Navy bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), identifying 195 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites associated with chronological aging via cross-validation with one individual left out in each fold (R2 = 0.95). With a median absolute error of 2.5 years, this clock improves age estimation capacity in wild dolphins, helping conservation efforts and enabling a better understanding of population demographics.

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