Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Mediterranean Sea occur both as free-ranging populations and as individuals kept under human care, requiring standardized tools for identification, traceability, and demographic characterization to support conservation and management. In line with the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS) initiative, and building upon evidence demonstrating how molecular analyses significantly improve the accuracy of stranding databases, this PhD project aims to implement he most recent ACCOBAMS resolution (Res. 9.19) a Mediterranean Genetic Passport framework integrating DNA-based individual profiling with epigenetic age estimation molecular tools. Using tissues from the archive of the Mediterranean Marine Mammals Tissue Bank (Dept. BCA, University of Padova) and those sampled from stranded wild dolphins and samples from under human care individuals, the project will establish a genetic repository supporting identification, stock assessment, and population structure analyses.

By combining forensic genetics and epigenetic aging within a monitoring framework, the research will strengthen and long-term conservation and management strategies for Mediterranean cetaceans. The analyses could also identify pattern regulating the immune response as well as changes related to environmental stressors.

Five publications related to the Research topic for the candidate interview:

• Polanowski AM, Robbins J, Chandler D, Jarman SN. EpigeneJc esJmaJon of age in humpback whales. Mol Ecol Resour. 2014;14(5):976-87. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12247.
• Gómez R, Neri-Bazán RM, Posadas-Mondragon A, Vizcaíno-Dorado PA, Magaña JJ, Aguilar-Faisal JL. Molecular Assessments, StaJsJcal EffecJveness Parameters and GeneJc Structure of CapJve PopulaJons of Tursiops truncatus Using 15 STRs. Animals (Basel). 2022;12(14):1857. doi: 10.3390/ani12141857.
• Cardinali I, Tancredi D, Lancioni H. The RevoluJon of Animal Genomics in Forensic Sciences. Int J Mol Sci. 2023;24(10):8821. doi: 10.3390/ijms24108821.
• Krar S, Rodríguez F, Olavarría C, Poulin E, Pérez-Álvarez MJ. GeneJc Analysis as a Tool to Improve the Monitoring of Stranded Cetaceans in Chile. Biology (Basel). 2023;12(5):748. doi: 10.3390/biology12050748.
• Zoller JA, Lu AT, Haghani A, Horvath S, Robeck T. Enhancing epigeneJc aging clocks in cetaceans: accurate age esJmaJons in small endangered delphinids, killer whales, pilot whales, belugas, humpbacks, and bowhead whales. Sci Rep. 2025;15(1):4048. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-86705-5.

Tutor: Prof. Sandro Mazzariol
e-mail address: sandro.mazzariol@unipd.it