Data from: Curvilinear telomere length dynamics in a squamate reptile

The lack of consensus concerning the impact of telomere length (TL)
dynamics on survival emphasizes the need for additional studies to
evaluate the effect of TL on key life-history processes. Using both
cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we therefore explored age-specific
TL dynamics in a squamate reptile: the frillneck lizard (Chlamydosaurus
kingii). Our cross-sectional analyses revealed that young lizards had
short TL, TL increased in medium-aged lizards, but TL decreased in older
age cohorts, revealing a curvilinear relationship between TL and frillneck
lizard age. Neither our cross-sectional nor our longitudinal analyses
revealed any association between TL dynamics and lizard survival. We
observed a significant positive relationship between TL and telomerase
expression (TE), suggesting that TE is a significant determinant of
frillneck lizard TL dynamics. Importantly, our longitudinal analyses
revealed a positive relationship between initial TL and telomere attrition
rate within individual lizards, that is lizards with short initial
telomeres were subjected to reduced telomere attrition rates compared to
lizards with long initial TL. Our results strongly suggest that TL and TE
dynamics in frillneck lizards is not associated with lizard survival but
rather reflect an adaptation to maintain TL above a critical minimum
length in order to sustain cellular homeostasis.