Finally, we found no evidence that telomere dynamics predicted survival to subsequent years, although there was a nonsignificant trend for individuals with longer telomeres in year N to be more likely to survive to year N + 1 (binomial GLMM; TRQ in year N and survival to year N + 1: n = 89 observations of 56 males, χ 2 = 2.9, p = .09; ΔTRQ and survival to year N + 2: n = 30 observations of 25 males, χ 2 = 0.19, p = .67). 4 Discussion We found that plumage coloration acts as a reliable indicator of the rate of subsequent telomere erosion.
1
—
—