Checking billy barr’s snow log…
Aging is a universal consequence of life, yet this cost is experienced differently between species and potentially between different populations. Long-term studies in wild mammals have shown that lifespan expectancy is tied to many proximate environmental factors, such as social dominance and resource limitation. However, how these factors influence biological, or epigenetic aging, is not well understood. Yellow-bellied marmots ( Marmota flaviventer ) are obligate hibernators that annually experience conditions known to increase longevity (e.g., major caloric restriction and reduced metabolic rate during torpor). The alpine habitats of these animals are highly sensitive to anticipated phenological shifts affecting plants and animals under climate change. Adult marmots show evidence of decreasing epigenetic aging by modulating DNA methylation during the winter months. Thus, this long-studied marmot population, which survives within seasonal periodicity, can provide insight to a species-specific response to climatic change via an epigenetic mechanism. I will conduct a longitudinal study of DNA methylation variation across years and between marmot populations at high elevation sites in the Rocky Mountains. This data on seasonal lifetime variation in epigenetic modification will inform how species may survive fluctuating and physiologically challenging environments.