How to translate text using browser tools
1 June 2005 Incisor wear and age in Yellowstone bison
David A. Christianson, Peter J. P. Gogan, Kevin M. Podruzny, Edward M. Olexa
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Biologists commonly use tooth eruption and wear patterns or cementum annuli techniques to estimate age of ungulates. However, in some situations the accuracy or sampling procedures of either approach are undesirable. We investigated the progression of several quantitative measures of wear with age, using permanent first incisors from Yellowstone bison (Bison bison), and tested for differences between sexes and herds. We further investigated the relationship of wear and age to explore an age-estimation method. Labial-lingual width (LLW) correlated best with assigned age (r2=0.66, males; r2=0.76 females). Labial-lingual width differed between sexes, with females showing ∼0.2 mm more wear than males. Additionally, differences in rate of wear existed between bison of the northern and central Yellowstone herds (1.2 and 0.9 mm/year, respectively). We developed a regression formula to test the power of LLW as an estimator of Yellowstone bison age. Our method provided estimated ages within 1 year of the assigned age 73% and 82% of the time for female and male bison, respectively.

David A. Christianson, Peter J. P. Gogan, Kevin M. Podruzny, and Edward M. Olexa "Incisor wear and age in Yellowstone bison," Wildlife Society Bulletin 33(2), 669-676, (1 June 2005). https://doi.org/10.2193/0091-7648(2005)33[669:IWAAIY]2.0.CO;2
Published: 1 June 2005
JOURNAL ARTICLE
8 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
age estimation
annuli
Bison bison
cementum
eruption-wear
incisor
Yellowstone
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top