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

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.