ArticleScientific reports2020
Androstenedione and testosterone but not progesterone are potential biomarkers of pregnancy in Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) approaching parturition.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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10 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- A sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analytical method of steroid hormones in small blubber samples from four whale species.Conservation physiology · 2026Article
- Multiyear Baleen Endocrine Profiles Suggest a Longer Estimated Gestation in Southern Right Whales (Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Comprehensive assessment of the physical and health features of the threatened Araguaian River dolphin Inia araguaiaensis.PloS one · 2025Article
- Demographic and physiological signals of reproductive events in humpback whales on a southwest pacific breeding ground.Conservation physiology · 2024Article
- Assessment of a non-invasive approach to pregnancy diagnosis in gray whales through drone-based photogrammetry and faecal hormone analysis.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Naturally stressed? Glucocorticoid profiles in blubber of blue and gray whales in response to life history parameters.Marine Mammal Science · 2022Article
- Photoperiodic Changes in Both Hypothalamus Neurotransmitters and Circulating Gonadal Steroids Metabolomic Profiles in Relation to Seasonal Reproduction in Male Quail.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Blubber endocrine profiles provide insights into reproductive biology in blue whales from the eastern North Pacific Ocean.General and comparative endocrinology · 2021Article
- Multi-year progesterone profiles during pregnancy in baleen of humpback whales (Conservation physiology · 2021Article
- Application of endocrine biomarkers to update information on reproductive physiology in gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus).PloS one · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The blubber steroid hormone profiles of 52 female humpback whales migrating along the east coast of Australia were investigated for seasonal endocrine changes associated with reproduction. Individuals were randomly sampled during two stages of the annual migration: before reaching the breeding grounds (northward migration; June/July), and after departing from the breeding grounds (southward migration; September/October). Assignment of reproductive status of the sampled individuals was based on season, single-hormone ranks and multi-variate analysis of the hormonal profiles. High concentrations of progesterone (>19 ng/g, wet weight), recognised as an indicator of pregnancy in this species, were only detected in one sample. However, the androgens, testosterone and androstenedione were measured in unusually high concentrations (1.6-12 and 7.8-40 ng/g wet weight, respectively) in 36% of the females approaching the breeding grounds. The absence of a strong accompanying progesterone signal in these animals raises the possibility of progesterone withdrawal prior to parturition. As seen with other cetacean species, testosterone and androstenedione could be markers of near-term pregnancy in humpback whales. Confirmation of these androgens as alternate biomarkers of near-term pregnancy would carry implications for improved monitoring of the annual fecundity of humpback whales via non-lethal and minimally invasive methods.
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