Dear All, We are pleased to announce the following publications on bottlenose dolphins, one as a clinical tool to estimate age radiographically and a second showing normal reference ranges for biochemistry and haematology during successful dolphin pregnancy: Article 1: Barratclough, Ashley, Roberto Sanz-Requena, Luis Marti-Bonmati, Todd L. Schmitt, Eric Jensen, and Daniel García-Párraga. "Radiographic assessment of pectoral flipper bone maturation in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), as a novel technique to accurately estimate chronological age." PloS one 14, no. 9 (2019): e0222722. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222722 <https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222722> <>Abstract: Accurate age estimation in wildlife conservation is an important diagnostic tool in the interpretation of biological data, necropsy examination, reproductive status and population demographics. The most frequently utilized methods to age bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) include tooth extraction; counting dental growth layer groups and dental radiography. These methods are inaccurate in dolphins > 13 years old, due to overlapping of the growth layer groups in dolphins and worn teeth. Establishing a non-invasive method of accurately aging bottlenose dolphins across the entire age range is important to long term conservation efforts to understand health status, lifespan, reproduction and survivability. A database of 126 radiographs from 94 dolphins of known chronological age was utilized to establish the stages of skeletal ossification over time. A numerical score from -1 to 8 was assigned to 16 anatomic locations on the pectoral radiograph, to create a formula to estimate age. The most informative areas to evaluate morphologically were the metaphyseal regions of the radius and ulna, and the proximal and distal epiphysis of metacarpals II and III. Third order polynomial regression calculated separate age predictor formulas for male and female dolphins, with females reaching sexual maturity earlier than males. Completion of epiphyseal closure of the long bones correlated with average sexual maturity. Managed care dolphin ages could be properly estimated with decreasing precision from within 3 months in animals < 5 years old, to within 5 years in animals > 30 years old. This diagnostic tool could also be applied to diagnose atypical ossification patterns consistent with nutritional, developmental or growth abnormalities, and identifying subclinical health issues. In conclusion, knowledge of the lifespan and the onset of sexual maturity for each species will allow this model to be applied to other cetaceans, facilitating age estimation via pectoral radiography in future research. Article 2: Barratclough, Ashley, Forrest M. Gomez, Jeanine S. Morey, Alissa Deming, Celeste Parry, Jennifer M. Meegan, Kevin P. Carlin et al. "Pregnancy profiles in the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): Clinical biochemical and hematological variations during healthy gestation and a successful outcome." Theriogenology (2019). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0093691X19304200 <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0093691X19304200> Abstract The physiological demands of pregnancy inevitably result in changes of both biochemical and hematological parameters as the fetus develops. Alterations in blood parameters have been observed to shift according to both trimester and species, to support fetal physiological needs and maternal basal requirements. Establishing normal reference ranges for each stage in gestation is important to facilitate diagnosis of underlying health concerns and prevent over-diagnosing abnormalities. Despite bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) being one of the most highly studied cetaceans, the blood profile changes occurring as a result of pregnancy have not been previously described. A retrospective analysis was performed from blood samples obtained from 42 successful pregnancies from 20 bottlenose dolphins in a managed population over 30 years. Samples were compared to non-pregnant states and among trimesters of pregnancy. Blood profile fluctuations occurred throughout gestation, however significant alterations predominantly occurred between the 2nd and 3rd trimester. Hematological changes from the 2nd to the 3rd trimester included a decrease in lymphocytes, decrease in platelet count, and hemoconcentration with increased hematocrit and hemoglobin. Biochemical changes in the 3rd trimester included significant reductions in ALKP (alkaline phosphatase), ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and AST (aspartate aminotransferase) with significant increases observed in albumin, globulins, total protein, cholesterol, triglycerides and CO2. It's important to note that despite significant shifts occurring between the 2nd and 3rd trimester, there was no significant change in platelets, hematocrit, hemoglobin, lymphocytes or CO2 between non-pregnant and 3rd trimester blood samples. The normal reference ranges for each trimester established herein, will enable future identification of abnormalities occurring during pregnancy and help improve our understanding of factors potentially influencing a failed or successful pregnancy outcome. Please email me (ashley.barratclough@nmmpfoundation.org) if you would like a PDF copy of the papers (both will be open access) or if you have any questions. Cheers, Ashley