Bomb dating, age validation and quality control of age determinations of monodontids and other marine mammals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2987Keywords:
monodontids, age determination, bomb dating, validationAbstract
Methods for confirming the accuracy of age determination methods are reasonably well established in fishes, but the millions of routine age determinations which take place every year require their own quality control protocols. In contrast, methods for ensuring accuracy in age determination of monodontids and other marine mammals are still being developed. Here we review the basis and application of bomb radiocarbon to marine mammal age validation, highlighting its value for providing unambiguous estimates of age for belugas and other long-lived animals which form growth bands. Bomb radiocarbon is particularly useful for marine mammals, given that the age of an individual animal can be determined to within ±1-3 years, as long as it was alive during the 1960s. However, ongoing age determinations require careful monitoring to ensure that age interpretations remain consistent across ages and through time. Quality control protocols using reference collections of ageing material, in conjunction with age bias plots and measures of precision, are capable of detecting virtually all of the systematic ageing errors that often occur once age determinations of an animal become routine.Downloads
Published
2014-05-11
How to Cite
Campana, S. E., & Stewart, R. E. (2014). Bomb dating, age validation and quality control of age determinations of monodontids and other marine mammals. NAMMCO Scientific Publications, 10. https://doi.org/10.7557/3.2987
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).