ArticleThe Journal of experimental biology2024
Sex and early-life conditions shape telomere dynamics in an ectotherm.
Article in The Journal of experimental biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Telomere Length Is Determined by Intrinsic Factors and Is Shortened During Drought Years inEcology and evolution · 2026Article
- Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Patterns Predict Age in the Zebra Shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) and Provide Insight Into the Evolution of Vertebrate Aging.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Assortative breeding experiment in a songbird suggests telomere length is determined during early life rather than at conception.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Telomeres, the repetitive DNA regions that protect the ends of chromosomes, and their shortening have been linked to key life history trade-offs among growth, reproduction and lifespan. In contrast to most endotherms, many ectotherms can compensate for telomere shortening throughout life by upregulation of telomerase in somatic tissues. However, during development, marked by rapid growth and an increased sensitivity to extrinsic factors, the upregulation of telomerase may be overwhelmed, resulting in long-term impacts on telomere dynamics. In ectotherms, one extrinsic factor that may play a particularly important role in development is temperature. Here, we investigated the influence of developmental temperature and sex on early-life telomere dynamics in an oviparous ectotherm, Lacerta agilis. While there was no effect of developmental temperature on telomere length at hatching, there were subsequent effects on telomere maintenance capacity, with individuals incubated at warm temperatures exhibiting less telomere maintenance compared with cool-incubated individuals. Telomere dynamics were also sexually dimorphic, with females having longer telomeres and greater telomere maintenance compared with males. We suggest that selection drives this sexual dimorphism in telomere maintenance, in which females maximise their lifetime reproductive success by investing in traits promoting longevity such as maintenance, while males invest in short-term reproductive gains through a polygynous mating behaviour. These early-life effects, therefore, have the potential to mediate life-long changes to life histories.
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Registered trials
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