Age assessment using cementum annulus counts and tooth wear in a free-ranging population ofMacaca mulatta

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Kay ◽  
John G. H. Cant
Keyword(s):  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Age Assessment ◽  
Free Ranging

scholarly journals Tooth wear in captive rhinoceroses (Diceros, Rhinoceros, Ceratotherium: Perissodactyla) differs from that of free-ranging conspecifics

2014 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-S1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy A. Taylor ◽  
Dennis W.H. Müller ◽  
Christoph Schwitzer ◽  
Thomas M. Kaiser ◽  
Daryl Codron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Dental Health ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Museum Specimens ◽  
Second Molar ◽  
Rhinoceros Unicornis ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
Posterior Cusp ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Free Ranging

Tooth wear can affect body condition, reproductive success and life expectancy. Poor dental health is frequently reported in the zoo literature, and abrasion-dominated tooth wear, which is typical for grazers, has been reported in captive browsing ruminants. The aim of this study was to test if a similar effect is evident in captive rhinoceros species. Dental casts of maxillary cheek teeth of museum specimens of captive black (Diceros bicornis; browser), greater one-horned (Rhinoceros unicornis; intermediate feeder) and white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum; grazer) were analysed using the recently developed extended mesowear method for rhinoceroses. Captive D. bicornis exhibited significantly more abrasion-dominated tooth wear than their free-ranging conspecifics (p<0.001), whereas captive C. simum exhibited significantly less abrasion-dominated tooth wear, particularly in the posterior cusp of the second molar (p=0.005). In R. unicornis, fewer differences were exhibited between free-ranging and captive animals, but tooth wear was highly variable in this species. In both free-ranging and captive D. bicornis, anterior cusps were significantly more abrasiondominated than posterior cusps (p<0.05), which indicates morphological differences between cusps that may represent functional adaptations. By contrast, tooth wear gradients between free-ranging and captive animals differed, which indicates ingesta- specific influences responsible for inter-tooth wear differences. Captive D. bicornis exhibited more homogenous tooth wear than their free-ranging conspecifics, which may be caused by an increase in the absolute dietary abrasiveness and a decrease in relative environmental abrasiveness compared to their freeranging conspecifics. The opposite occurred in C. simum. The results of this study suggest that diets fed to captive browsers are too abrasive, which could result in the premature loss of tooth functionality, leading to reduced food acquisition and processing ability and, consequently, malnourishment.

scholarly journals Tooth wear in captive wild ruminant species differs from that of free-ranging conspecifics

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 425-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Kaiser ◽  
Juliane Brasch ◽  
Johanna C. Castell ◽  
Ellen Schulz ◽  
Marcus Clauss
Keyword(s):  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Wild Ruminant ◽  
Ruminant Species ◽  
Free Ranging

The association of tooth wear with sociality of free-ranging male koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus Goldfuss)

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Logan ◽  
Gordon D. Sanson
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Radio Telemetry ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Free Ranging

The sociality (as measured by the degree of bellowing and amount of tree use) of five adult male koalas and one sub-adult male koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), with varying degrees of tooth wear, were investigated using acoustically sensitive radio-telemetry. Initial increases in tooth wear that coincide with an increase in age to maturity were associated with an increase in reproductive effort. Advanced tooth wear was found to be associated with a decrease in reproductive effort. This trend in reproductive effort is consistent with life-history predictions, and suggests that tooth wear has the potential to impose limitations on the reproductive longevity and fecundity of free-ranging male koalas.

Loss of tooth-supporting bone in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) with age

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth F. Lee ◽  
Srinivas Varanasi ◽  
Lyndall M. Pettett ◽  
Philip S. Bird ◽  
Anne L. Symons
Keyword(s):  
Bone Loss ◽  
Alveolar Bone ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Bone Defects ◽  
Third Molars ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Severe Bone Loss ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Bone Height

This study investigated changes in alveolar bone height in free-ranging koalas of different age groups. Twenty-seven free-ranging Queensland koalas (15 female, 12 male), admitted to the Moggill Koala Hospital, Brisbane, were used in this study. Koalas were divided into three groups (young, adult, old) on the basis of tooth wear, each group containing nine animals. Defleshed jaws were examined for the presence of alveolar bone defects. The distance from the cemento-enamel junction and the interproximal crestal alveolar bone height was measured on the buccal aspects of the second and third molars. Jaws were photographed and radiographed. Bone defects (dehiscences and fenestrations) were observed in both jaws and were predominantly located on the buccal aspect of the alveolar process. The loss of height of crestal alveolar bone, relative to the cemento-enamel junction, increased with age, with 25 koalas showing moderate to severe bone loss and only two koalas having none/mild loss levels at all measurement sites. Female koalas had higher frequency of ‘none/mild’ cases of bone loss than did males. There was no variation in levels of alveolar bone loss between the upper and lower jaws or the corresponding right and left arches.

The effects of lactation on the feeding behaviour and activity patterns of free-ranging female koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus Goldfuss)

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 415 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Logan ◽  
G. D. Sanson
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Radio Telemetry ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Active Time ◽  
Compensation Mechanisms ◽  
Lactating Females ◽  
Time Spent Feeding ◽  
Free Ranging

The free-ranging feeding behaviour and activity patterns of three lactating and two non-lactating female koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) were investigated using acoustically sensitive radio-telemetry. Lactating females were found to consume more leaf material, masticate more per leaf and at a greater rate, and perform more ingestive and mercyism mastications per 24 h than non-lactating females. Results suggest than female koalas are 'income breeders' that compensate for the higher energetic demands of lactation by increasing intake and, to a lesser degree, investing more in each mouthful so as to produce a shift in digesta particle size distribution in favour of more finer particles. Compared with non-lactating females, lactating female koalas were also found to spend more time moving within trees, feeding per 24 h and per bout, and less time resting and sleeping per 24 h, although the proportion of active time spent feeding was similar (~80%). This implies that female koalas adopt a 'time minimizing strategy whereby activity budgets respond to current requirements. Lactation-compensation mechanisms are compared with those reported for koalas with high tooth wear, and the capacity of aging female koalas to compensate for lactation are discussed.

Estimating the age structure of a population of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) by comparing tooth wear and cementum lines

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl A. Lohr ◽  
Tammy Esmaili ◽  
Harriet Mills ◽  
Roberta Bencini
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Age Structure ◽  
Wild Population ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Rank Regression ◽  
Parametric Data ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
The Relationship

We used cementum lines from a sample of possums to calibrate tooth wear patterns in free-ranging common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) to estimate of the age structure of a wild population of the species living at the Perth Zoo, Western Australia. We assessed patterns of tooth wear and incremental cementum lines in teeth extracted from 40 possums via necropsy. Rank regression for non-parametric data revealed a weak relationship between the number of cementum lines per tooth (y), which was assumed to correspond to the age of the possums (in years), and tooth wear (males: age = 0.51x + 3.4, r2 = 0.098, n = 27; females: age = 1.17x + 0.35, r2 = 0.345, n = 45). We used these relationships and the tooth wear pattern of 149 live possums caught at Perth Zoo to develop an estimate of the age structure of the population. Most (63.1%) possums were between 4 and 6 years of age. Very few young (1–2 years) or old (6–8 years) possums were caught at Perth Zoo. These results yielded an approximate age distribution for possums within Perth Zoo and should be used with caution because the relationship between the number of cementum lines and tooth wear was weak.

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