Robust age estimation of southern sea otters from multiple morphometrics.

Reliable age estimation is an essential tool to assess the status of wildlife populations and inform successful management. Aging methods, however, are often limited by too few data, skewed demographic representation, and by single or uncertain morphometric relationships. In this study, we synthesize age estimates in southern sea otters from 761 individuals across 34 years of study, using multiple noninvasive techniques and capturing all life stages from 0 to 17 years of age.

Reductions in the dietary niche of southern sea otters () from the Holocene to the Anthropocene.

The sea otter () is a marine mammal hunted to near extinction during the 1800s. Despite their well-known modern importance as a keystone species, we know little about historical sea otter ecology. Here, we characterize the ecological niche of ancient southern sea otters () using δC analysis and δN analysis of bones recovered from archaeological sites spanning ~7,000 to 350 years before present ( = 112 individuals) at five regions along the coast of California.