# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Marine animal studies overview Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/marine-animal-studies-overview/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Marine animal studies overview research in the Class of 2026?

Marine animal research in 2024 was heavily defined by the rapid surge of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 outbreaks in marine mammals, ocean warming events in the Great Barrier Reef, and mass mortality incidents, alongside expanding use of passive acoustic monitoring and species distribution modeling for marine mammal conservation.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Marine animal studies overview |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 4,254 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Avian Influenza H5N1, sea surface temperature, passive acoustic monitoring, Great Barrier Reef, mass mortality events |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 19–112 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Epidemiological data of an influenza A/H5N1 outbreak in elephant seals in Argentina indicates mammal-to-mammal transmission | Marcela M Uhart, Ralph E T Vanstreels, Martha I Nelson, Valeria Olivera, Julieta Campagna, Victoria Zavattieri, Philippe Lemey, Claudio Campagna, Valeria Falabella, Agustina Rimondi | Marcela Uhart, Agustina Rimondi | University of California, Davis, United States | Nature Communications | 112 | 10.1038/s41467-024-53766-5 |
| 2 | Highest ocean heat in four centuries places Great Barrier Reef in danger | Benjamin J Henley, Helen V McGregor, Andrew D King, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Ariella K Arzey, David J Karoly, Janice M Lough, Thomas M DeCarlo, Braddock K Linsley | Benjamin J. Henley | University of Wollongong, Australia | Nature | 68 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07672-x |
| 3 | Pacific and Atlantic sea lion mortality caused by highly pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) in South America | Pablo I Plaza, Víctor Gamarra-Toledo, Juan Rodríguez Euguí, Natalia Rosciano, Sergio A Lambertucci | Pablo I. Plaza | Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina | Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease | 58 | 10.1016/j.tmaid.2024.102712 |
| 4 | Ship collision risk threatens whales across the world’s oceans | Anna C Nisi, Heather Welch, Stephanie Brodie, Callie Leiphardt, Rachel Rhodes, Elliott L Hazen, Jessica V Redfern, Trevor A Branch, Andre S Barreto, John Calambokidis, Tyler Clavelle, Lauren Dares, Asha de Vos, Shane Gero, Jennifer A Jackson, Robert D Kenney, David Kroodsma, Russell Leaper, Douglas J McCauley, Sue E Moore, Ekaterina Ovsyanikova, Simone Panigada, Chloe V Robinson, Tim White, Jono Wilson, Briana Abrahms | Anna C. Nisi | University of Washington, United States | Science | 48 | 10.1126/science.adp1950 |
| 5 | Contextual and combinatorial structure in sperm whale vocalisations | Pratyusha Sharma, Shane Gero, Roger Payne, David F Gruber, Daniela Rus, Antonio Torralba, Jacob Andreas | Daniela Rus, Antonio Torralba, Jacob Andreas | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States | Nature Communications | 41 | 10.1038/s41467-024-47221-8 |
| 6 | Evolutionary novelties underlie sound production in baleen whales | Coen P H Elemans, Weili Jiang, Mikkel H Jensen, Helena Pichler, Bo R Mussman, Jacob Nattestad, Magnus Wahlberg, Xudong Zheng, Qian Xue, W Tecumseh Fitch | Coen P. H. Elemans, W. Tecumseh Fitch | University of Southern Denmark, Denmark | Nature | 36 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07080-1 |
| 7 | Catastrophic and persistent loss of common murres after a marine heatwave | Heather M Renner, John F Piatt, Martin Renner, Brie A Drummond, Jared S Laufenberg, Julia K Parrish | Heather M. Renner | Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, United States | Science | 34 | 10.1126/science.adq4330 |
| 8 | Bellwethers of change: population modelling of North Pacific humpback whales from 2002 through 2021 reveals shift from recovery to climate response | Ted Cheeseman, Jay Barlow, Jo Marie Acebes, Katherina Audley, Lars Bejder, Caitlin Birdsall, Olga Solis Bracamontes, Amanda L Bradford, Josie Byington, John Calambokidis, Rachel Cartwright, Jen Cedarleaf, Andrea Jacqueline García Chavez, Jens Currie, Rouenne Camille De Castro, Joëlle De Weerdt, Nicole Doe, Thomas Doniol-Valcroze, Karina Dracott, Olga Filatova, Rachel Finn, Kiirsten R Flynn, John Ford, Astrid Frisch-Jordán, Chris Gabriele, Beth Goodwin, Craig Hayslip, Jackie Hildering, Marie C Hill, Jeff K Jacobsen, M Esther Jiménez-López, Meagan Jones, Nozomi Kobayashi, Marc Lammers, Edward Lyman, Mark Malleson, Evgeny Mamaev, Pamela Martínez Loustalot, Annie Masterman, Craig O Matkin, Christie McMillan, Jeff Moore, John Moran, Janet L Neilson, Hayley Newell, Haruna Okabe, Marilia Olio, Christian D Ortega-Ortiz, Adam A Pack, Daniel M Palacios, Heidi Pearson, Ester Quintana-Rizzo, Raul Ramírez Barragán, Nicola Ransome, Hiram Rosales-Nanduca, Fred Sharpe, Tasli Shaw, Ken Southerland, Stephanie Stack, Iain Staniland, Janice Straley, Andrew Szabo, Suzie Teerlink, Olga Titova, Jorge Urban-Ramirez, Martin van Aswegen, Marcel Vinicius, Olga von Ziegesar, Briana Witteveen, Janie Wray, Kymberly Yano, Igor Yegin, Denny Zwiefelhofer, Phil Clapham | Ted Cheeseman | Southern Cross University, Australia | Royal Society Open Science | 28 | 10.1098/rsos.231462 |
| 9 | Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( <i>Orcinus orca</i> ): Bigg’s and resident ecotypes deserve species status | Phillip A Morin, Morgan L McCarthy, Charissa W Fung, John W Durban, Kim M Parsons, William F Perrin, Barbara L Taylor, Thomas A Jefferson, Frederick I Archer | Phillip A. Morin | Southwest Fisheries Science Center, United States | Royal Society Open Science | 28 | 10.1098/rsos.231368 |
| 10 | Seasonal dynamics and diversity of Antarctic marine viruses reveal a novel viral seascape | Gonçalo J Piedade, Max E Schön, Cédric Lood, Mikhail V Fofanov, Ella M Wesdorp, Tristan E G Biggs, Lingyi Wu, Henk Bolhuis, Matthias G Fischer, Natalya Yutin, Bas E Dutilh, Corina P D Brussaard | Gonçalo J. Piedade, Corina P. D. Brussaard | NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Netherlands | Nature Communications | 28 | 10.1038/s41467-024-53317-y |
| 11 | The evolution of menopause in toothed whales | Samuel Ellis, Daniel W Franks, Mia Lybkær Kronborg Nielsen, Michael N Weiss, Darren P Croft | Samuel Ellis | University of Exeter, United Kingdom | Nature | 27 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07159-9 |
| 12 | Changing dynamics of Great Barrier Reef hard coral cover in the Anthropocene | Michael J. Emslie, Daniela M. Ceccarelli, Murray Logan, Makeely I. Blandford, Peran Bray, Adriana R. Campili, Michelle J. Jonker, Joshua G. Parker, Tara Prenzlau, Tane H. Sinclair‐Taylor | Michael J. Emslie | Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australia | Coral Reefs | 23 | 10.1007/s00338-024-02498-5 |
| 13 | Heat tolerance varies considerably within a reef-building coral species on the Great Barrier Reef | Melissa Naugle, Hugo Denis, Véronique J. L. Mocellin, Patrick W. Laffy, Iva Popovic, Line K. Bay, Emily J. Howells | Melissa Naugle | Southern Cross University, Australia | Communications Earth & Environment | 23 | 10.1038/s43247-024-01649-4 |
| 14 | Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal | Joseph I Hoffman, David L J Vendrami, Kosmas Hench, Rebecca S Chen, Martin A Stoffel, Marty Kardos, William Amos, Jörn Kalinowski, Daniel Rickert, Karl Köhrer, Thorsten Wachtmeister, Mike E Goebel, Carolina A Bonin, Frances M D Gulland, Kanchon K Dasmahapatra | Joseph I. Hoffman | Bielefeld University, Germany | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 23 | 10.1038/s41559-024-02533-2 |
| 15 | The Acoustic Index User's Guide: A practical manual for defining, generating and understanding current and future acoustic indices | Tom Bradfer‐Lawrence, Brad Duthie, Carlos Abrahams, Matyáš Adam, R. Barnett, Amy V. Beeston, J.B. Darby, Benedict Dell, Nick Gardner, Amandine Gasc, Becky E. Heath, Nia Howells, Magnus Janson, Maria‐Viktoria Kyoseva, Thomas Luypaert, Oliver Metcalf, Anna McGregor, Frederica Poznansky, Samuel R. P.‐J. Ross, Sarab S. Sethi, Siobhan Smyth, Emily H. Waddell, Jérémy S. P. Froidevaux | Tom Bradfer‐Lawrence | University of Stirling, United Kingdom | Methods in Ecology and Evolution | 22 | 10.1111/2041-210x.14357 |
| 16 | Seabird bycatch in European waters | Iván Ramírez, Daniel J. B. Mitchell, Antonio Vulcano, Yann Rouxel, Dominik Marchowski, André L. F. de Almeida, José Manuel Arcos, Verónica Cortés, Gert J. de Lange, Julius Morkūnas, Nuno Oliveira, Vítor H. Paiva | Iván Ramírez | Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species  Bonn Germany, Germany | Animal Conservation | 22 | 10.1111/acv.12948 |
| 17 | Polar bear energetic and behavioral strategies on land with implications for surviving the ice-free period | Anthony M Pagano, Karyn D Rode, Nicholas J Lunn, David McGeachy, Stephen N Atkinson, Sean D Farley, Joy A Erlenbach, Charles T Robbins | Anthony M. Pagano | U. S. Geological Survey, United States | Nature Communications | 21 | 10.1038/s41467-023-44682-1 |
| 18 | Collective sensing in electric fish | Federico Pedraja, Nathaniel B Sawtell | Federico Pedraja, Nathaniel B. Sawtell | Columbia University, United States | Nature | 20 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07157-x |
| 19 | Mortality in sea lions is associated with the introduction of the H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b virus in Brazil October 2023: whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis | Andreina de Carvalho Araujo, Andrew Yong Cho, Laura Morais Nascimento Silva, Thais Camilo Corrêa, Gabriela Cristini de Souza, Adriana Silva Albuquerque, Eduardo Macagnan, Cristiane K M Kolesnikvoas, Rafael Meurer, Jenyffer Vierheller Vieira, Giulia Gaglianone Lemos, André Silva Barreto, Jeferson Luis Dick, Karina Rejane Groch, Pedro Volkmer de Castilho, Deyvid Amgarten, Fernanda Malta, Michael Miller, Erick G Dorlass, Soledad Palameta, Sun-Hak Lee, Clarice Weis Arns, Edison L Durigon, João Renato R Pinho, Dong-Hun Lee, Helena Lage Ferreira | Helena Lage Ferreira | University of São Paulo, Brazil | BMC Veterinary Research | 20 | 10.1186/s12917-024-04137-1 |
| 20 | Advances in remote sensing of emperor penguins: first multi-year time series documenting trends in the global population | Michelle LaRue, David Iles, Sara Labrousse, Peter Fretwell, David Ortega, Eileen Devane, Isabella Horstmann, Lise Viollat, Rose Foster-Dyer, Céline Le Bohec, Daniel Zitterbart, Aymeric Houstin, Sebastian Richter, Alexander Winterl, Barbara Wienecke, Leo Salas, Monique Nixon, Christophe Barbraud, Gerald Kooyman, Paul Ponganis, David Ainley, Philip Trathan, Stephanie Jenouvrier | Michelle LaRue | University of Minnesota, United States | Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences | 19 | 10.1098/rspb.2023.2067 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 in marine animal studies is anchored by urgent wildlife epidemiology, ocean climate extremes, and high-resolution ecological monitoring. Leading the cohort are studies investigating Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 (8% normalized frequency), driven by unprecedented multi-species outbreaks and cross-species transmission into marine mammal populations such as southern elephant seals and South American sea lions. Concurrently, environmental stressors dominate research focus, with sea surface temperature anomalies (8%), marine heatwaves (6%), and thermal impacts on the Great Barrier Reef (6%) associated with catastrophic ecological disturbances and mass mortality events (6%). To track these rapid population shifts and habitat degradation, researchers have increasingly deployed non-invasive monitoring technologies. Passive acoustic monitoring (8%) and species distribution modeling (6%) feature prominently alongside UAS photogrammetry, bioenergetic models, and line-transect sampling. Furthermore, conservation biology studies focus on anthropogenic noise, ship collision hotspots, and taxonomic re-evaluations of key marine mammal populations including Orcinus orca and North Atlantic right whales.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Topic trajectory analysis from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026 highlights a dramatic surge in viral disease dynamics and extreme ocean warming impacts. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 underwent a four-fold expansion (rising from 2% in 2023 to 8% in 2024), driven by high-impact reports of mammal-to-mammal transmission and sea lion mass mortality across South America. Emerging focus areas with marked increases include the Great Barrier Reef (jumping to 6%), mass mortality events (increasing three-fold to 6%), and cross-species virus transmission. Technical methodologies also saw heightened adoption, with passive acoustic monitoring doubling to 8% and line-transect sampling, anthropogenic noise assessment, and bioenergetic modeling expanding significantly. In contrast, foundational marine ecology topics such as general marine heatwave characterization and Orcinus orca studies remained stable at 6%, while broad baleen whale surveys declined from 6% to 4% as research shifted toward targeted crisis response and disease surveillance.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Marine animal studies overview Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/marine-animal-studies-overview/2026. Accessed 2026-07-29.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```