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Age prediction of green turtles with an epigenetic clock.

Authors: Mayne, Benjamin; Mustin, Walter; Baboolal, Vandanaa; Casella, Francesca; Ballorain, Katia; Barret, Mathieu; Vanderklift, Mathew A.; +4 Authors

Age prediction of green turtles with an epigenetic clock.

Abstract

Age is a fundamental life history attribute that is used to understand the dynamics of wild animal populations. Unfortunately, most animals do not have a practical or nonlethal method to determine age. This makes it difficult for wildlife managers to carry out population assessments, particularly for elusive and long-lived fauna such as marine turtles. In this study, we present an epigenetic clock that predicts the age of marine turtles from skin biopsies. The model was developed and validated using DNA from known-age green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from two captive populations, and mark-recapture wild turtles with known time intervals between captures. Our method, based on DNA methylation levels at 18 CpG sites, was highly accurate with a median absolute error of 2.1 years (4.7% of maximum age in data set). This is the first epigenetic clock developed for a reptile and illustrates their broad applicability across a broad variety of vertebrate species. It has the potential to transform marine turtle management through a nonlethal and inexpensive method to provide key life history information.

Keywords

1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, 1311 Genetics, epigenetics, population management, Vertebrates, 1305 Biotechnology, Animals, DNA ageing, wildlife management, Animals, Wild, Epigenesis, Genetic, Turtles

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Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
16
Top 10%
Average
Top 10%
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