Bottom of the heap: having heavier competitors accelerates early-life telomere loss in the European starling, Sturnus vulgaris.
Early-life adversity is associated with poorer health and survival in adulthood in humans and other animals.One pathway by which early-life environmental stressors could affect the adult phenotype is via effects on telomere dynamics.Several studies have shown that early-life adversity is associated with relatively short telomeres, but these are oft