Cetacean physical maturity is defined by growth cessation and complete fusion of epiphyses to vertebral bodies indicated by invisible sutures. Many studies have shown epiphyseal fusion is highly variable among individuals. In‐depth examinations into fusion variability are lacking. We analyzed vertebrae of 37 (n = 21 female, n = 16 male) stranded common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the well‐studied Gulf of Mexico, Sarasota Bay community. For each specimen, vertebrae were examined by vertebral region for degree of fusion anteriorly and posteriorly of each centrum and categorized from unfused to fused in five degrees. An ordinal logistic regression was used to estimate degree of fusion probability for each epiphysis. The model had fixed effects for age, number of offspring, sex, sexual maturity, and a random effect for epiphysis. Results show that age/reproductive status significantly explains an individual's degree of fusion. Adult females with fewer calves had more fusion than those with more reproductive experience across multiple ages. Access to long‐term observational and sample data on the dolphins residing in the area served by Mote Marine Laboratory's Stranding Investigations Program offers a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between energetic demands of reproduction (calcium production/reproductive output) versus preconceived definitions of physical maturity (skeletal fusion) more closely.

中文翻译：

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来自佛罗里达萨拉索塔湾的普通宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）的物理成熟度

鲸类的身体成熟由生长停止和骨epi与无形缝线表明的椎体完全融合来定义。许多研究表明epi骨融合在个体之间是高度可变的。缺乏对融合变异性的深入检查。我们分析了37头普通宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）的椎骨（n = 21，女性，n = 16，男性）），来自经过研究的墨西哥湾萨拉索塔湾社区。对于每个标本，按椎骨区域检查椎骨在每个椎骨前后的融合程度，并按未融合状态分为融合状态，分为五个融合状态。顺序逻辑回归用于估计每种骨epi的融合概率。该模型对年龄，后代数量，性别，性成熟度和骨epi随机影响具有固定影响。结果表明，年龄/生殖状态显着说明了个体的融合程度。与具有多个生育经验的女性相比，犊牛较少的成年女性具有更多的融合能力。访问有关Mote Marine Laboratory服务区域内的海豚的长期观测和样本数据