Dear Marmam Colleagues, My co-authors and I are happy to share the publication of our recent manuscript entitled Accurate Epigenetic Aging in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), an Essential Step in the Conservation of at-Risk Dolphins. Citation: Barratclough,A.;Smith, C.R.; Gomez, F.M.; Photopoulou, T.; Takeshita, R.; Pirotta, E.; Thomas, L.; McClain, A.M.; Parry, C.; Zoller, J.A.; et al. Accurate Epigenetic Aging in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), an Essential Step in the Conservation of at-Risk Dolphins. J. Zool. Bot. Gard. 2021, 2, 416–420. https://doi.org/10.3390/ jzbg2030030 Abstract: 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. The full paper is open access and can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/1218674 <https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5636/2/3/30/htm> Please contact me with any questions at ashley.barratclough@nmmf.org Cheers, Ashley Ashley Barratclough BVetMed, MSc WAH, MS, MRCVS Conservation Medicine Veterinarian National Marine Mammal Foundation 2240 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92107
