ArticleMolecular ecology resources2014
Epigenetic estimation of age in humpback whales.
Article in Molecular ecology resources, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 188 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Beginner's Guide for Using Bone in Marine Mammal Research.Integrative and comparative biology · 2026Guideline
- Advancing Marine Mammal Conservation Through Omics Tools and Integration of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge.Molecular ecology · 2026Review
- DNA methylation-based ageing in a deuterostome invertebrate: an epigenetic clock for the crown-of-thorns seastar (Acanthaster cf. solaris).Biology letters · 2026Article
- The potential of methylation signal detection in eDNA toward functional ecological monitoring.Communications biology · 2026Review
- Searching for shared epigenetic clocks: evaluating ultra-conserved markers in a de novo genome assembly of the albacore tuna.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Combining individual and close-kin mark-recapture to design an effective wildlife population survey.Ecology · 2026Article
- An Epigenetic Clock for Accurate Age Prediction in Atlantic Cod Populations for Improved Fisheries Management.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- Epigenetic Signatures of Ageing in Asian Elephants Revealed by Reduced Representation Bisulphite Sequencing.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Patterns Predict Age in the Zebra Shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) and Provide Insight Into the Evolution of Vertebrate Aging.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Epigenetic Age Estimation for Hawaiian False Killer Whales (Pseudorca crassidens) in the Absence of 'Known-Age' Individuals.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- Methods for analysing wildlife DNA methylation data.Conservation physiology · 2026Article
- Less-invasive age estimation using hair based on DNA methylation in brown bears.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Dental Ageing Offers New Insights Into the First Epigenetic Clock for Common Dolphins (Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Dental aging offers new insights to the first epigenetic clock for common dolphins (bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Estimating Polar Bear (Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- DNA Methylation Dynamics Reflect Sex and Status Differences in Mortality Rates in a Polygynous Bat.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Epigenetic Clock in Bears: A Simple Cost-Effective Blood DNA Methylation-Based Age Estimation Method Applicable to Multiple Bear Species.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Application of DNA Methylation-Based Age Estimation to Construct an Age Structure of Humpback Whales in a Newly Emerged Wintering Ground Around Hachijojima Island, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Patterns of paternity: insights into mating competition and gene flow in a recovering population of humpback whales.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- An epigenetic toolbox for conservation biologists.Evolutionary applications · 2024Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Age is a fundamental aspect of animal ecology, but is difficult to determine in many species. Humpback whales exemplify this as they have a lifespan comparable to humans, mature sexually as early as 4 years and have no reliable visual age indicators after their first year. Current methods for estimating humpback age cannot be applied to all individuals and populations. Assays for human age have recently been developed based on age-induced changes in DNA methylation of specific genes. We used information on age-associated DNA methylation in human and mouse genes to identify homologous gene regions in humpbacks. Humpback skin samples were obtained from individuals with a known year of birth and employed to calibrate relationships between cytosine methylation and age. Seven of 37 cytosines assayed for methylation level in humpback skin had significant age-related profiles. The three most age-informative cytosine markers were selected for a humpback epigenetic age assay. The assay has an R(2) of 0.787 (P = 3.04e-16) and predicts age from skin samples with a standard deviation of 2.991 years. The epigenetic method correctly determined which of parent-offspring pairs is the parent in more than 93% of cases. To demonstrate the potential of this technique, we constructed the first modern age profile of humpback whales off eastern Australia and compared the results to population structure 5 decades earlier. This is the first epigenetic age estimation method for a wild animal species and the approach we took for developing it can be applied to many other nonmodel organisms.
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