Tooth Development and Wear as Criteria of Age in White-Tailed Deer

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper describes and illustrates the appearance, development and subsequent wear of the teeth as a means of judging the age of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Material collected for the study comprised 127 age records from known- or established-aged deer. There were 101 sets of data on deer 2 yrs. old or less and 26 sets of data on deer 2.5 yrs. and older. Tooth formulae are used as criteria to divide specimens into 6 age classes. The first 5 age classes are broken into 11 sub-classes based on the eruption and loss of deciduous teeth and the stages of growth of the permanent dentition. The 6th age class is broken into 3 subclasses from 13 to 24 mos. and 8 sub-classes from 2.5 to 10.5 yrs. of age. A table and 2 graphs show the growth and decline of deciduous and permanent teeth by height in mm. of the lingual crests above the gum at various ages. In each of the 22 subclasses a descr. of the teeth is given so that it is possible to age deer by the appearance of the occlusal surfaces of the mandibular cheek teeth without reference to measurements. The dental development of white-tailed deer is compared with that of 5 other spp. of deer (3 European and 2 American).

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: