How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea Turtles
Marine turtles are iconic, globally distributed large reptiles with a largely oceanic life history that makes it difficult to characterize population demography and dynamics. This is significant because all marine turtle species are currently considered vulnerable or endangered. Knowledge of the age...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-09-01
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| Series: | Ecologies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4133/5/4/31 |
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| author | B. Alejandra Morales-Mérida Nicolas J. Pilcher Marc Girondot |
| author_facet | B. Alejandra Morales-Mérida Nicolas J. Pilcher Marc Girondot |
| author_sort | B. Alejandra Morales-Mérida |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Marine turtles are iconic, globally distributed large reptiles with a largely oceanic life history that makes it difficult to characterize population demography and dynamics. This is significant because all marine turtle species are currently considered vulnerable or endangered. Knowledge of the age of individuals is central to our understanding of the life history of a species and an important consideration in the design of management and conservation strategies. Herein, we review different methods used to estimate the absolute, relative and physiological age of marine turtles, as well as their underlying hypotheses and challenges in their interpretation. We conclude that, at present, there is no validated method that establishes the absolute age of an individual from field studies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-62ed8c2b0b85443f9819fc6c8830bdc8 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2673-4133 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecologies |
| spelling | doaj-art-62ed8c2b0b85443f9819fc6c8830bdc82025-08-20T02:55:57ZengMDPI AGEcologies2673-41332024-09-015450251110.3390/ecologies5040031How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea TurtlesB. Alejandra Morales-Mérida0Nicolas J. Pilcher1Marc Girondot2Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, FranceMarine Research Foundation, Kota Kinabalu 88450, MalaysiaEcologie, Systématique et Evolution, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, FranceMarine turtles are iconic, globally distributed large reptiles with a largely oceanic life history that makes it difficult to characterize population demography and dynamics. This is significant because all marine turtle species are currently considered vulnerable or endangered. Knowledge of the age of individuals is central to our understanding of the life history of a species and an important consideration in the design of management and conservation strategies. Herein, we review different methods used to estimate the absolute, relative and physiological age of marine turtles, as well as their underlying hypotheses and challenges in their interpretation. We conclude that, at present, there is no validated method that establishes the absolute age of an individual from field studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4133/5/4/31agingmarine turtlesskeletochronologysclerochronologytelomereDNA methylation |
| spellingShingle | B. Alejandra Morales-Mérida Nicolas J. Pilcher Marc Girondot How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea Turtles Ecologies aging marine turtles skeletochronology sclerochronology telomere DNA methylation |
| title | How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea Turtles |
| title_full | How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea Turtles |
| title_fullStr | How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea Turtles |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea Turtles |
| title_short | How Old Is a Turtle? Challenges in Interpreting Age Information in Sea Turtles |
| title_sort | how old is a turtle challenges in interpreting age information in sea turtles |
| topic | aging marine turtles skeletochronology sclerochronology telomere DNA methylation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4133/5/4/31 |
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