Lamarckian lizards: novel integration of telomere epigenetics, free radicals and innate antioxidants in condition-dependant sexual signal evolution. In 2009, the Nobel Prize in physiology was awarded Drs. Blackburn, Greider and Szostak for discoveries on telomeres. This project will investigate how telomeres not only cap chromosomes from destruction by free radicals, but also have a key role in life itself, in their influence on ageing, longevity, ornaments and lifetime reproductive success.