Older mothers produce offspring with longer telomeres: a longitudinal within-parent analysis

Abstract

As telomere length often predicts survival and lifespan, there is considerable interest in understanding the origins of inter-individual variation in telomere length. Transgenerational effects of parental age on offspring telomere length are thought to be a key source of variation, but the rarity of longitudinal studies that examine the telomeres of successive offspring born throughout the lives of parents leaves such parental age effects poorly understood. Here, we exploit telomere length measures of successive offspring produced throughout the long breeding tenures of parents in wild white-browed sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser mahali) societies, to isolate the effects of within-parent changes in age on offspring telomere lengths. Our analyses reveal the first evidence to date of a positive within-parent effect of advancing age on offspring telomere length: as individual mothers age they produce offspring with longer telomeres. We consider the potential for pre- and post-natal mechanisms to explain our findings. As telomere erosion predicts offspring mortality in this species, this positive parental age effect could significantly impact parent and offspring fitness. Our findings support the view that transgenerational effects of parental age can be an appreciable source of inter-individual variation in telomere length.