Mitochondria as central characters in a complex narrative: Linking genomics, energetics, pace-of-life, and aging in natural populations of garter snakes

As a pacesetter for physiological processes, variation in metabolic rate can determine the shape of energetic trade-offs and thereby drive variation in life-history traits. In turn, such variation in metabolic performance and life-histories can have profound consequences for lifespan and lifetime fitness. Thus, the extent to which metabolic rate variation is due to phenotypic plasticity or fixed genetic differences among individuals or...