Telomere attrition with age in a wild amphibian population

Telomere shortening with age has been documented in many organisms, butfew studies have reported telomere length measurements in amphibians, andno information is available for growth after metamorphosis, nor in wild popu-lations. We provide both cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence of nettelomere attrition with age in a wild amphibian population of natterjacktoads (Epidalea calamita). Based on age-estimation by skeletochronology andqPCR telomere length measurements in the framework of an individual-based monitoring programme, we confirmed telomere attrition in recapturedmales. Our results support that toads experience telomere attrition throughouttheir ontogeny, and that most attrition occurs during the first 1–2 years. We didnot find associations between telomere length and inbreeding or body con-dition. Our results on telomere length dynamics under natural conditionsconfirm telomere shortening with age in amphibians and provide quantifi-cation of wide telomere length variation within and among age-classes in awild breeding population.
This work was supported by FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spain (grant nos CGL2017-83131-P, CGL2017-83407-P) and Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de Navarra (predoctoral grant to G.S.-M.).