Bigger teeth for longer life? Longevity and molar height in two roe deer populations.
Biol Lett
; 3(3): 268-70, 2007 Jun 22.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17311776
ABSTRACT
The role of tooth wear as a proximate cause of senescence in ruminants has recently been highlighted. There are two competing hypotheses to explain variation in tooth height and wear; the diet-quality hypothesis predicting increased wear in low-quality habitats, and the life-history hypothesis predicting molar height to be related to expected longevity. We compared tooth height and wear from roe deer of known age from two contrasting populations of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in France Trois Fontaines (TF) with good habitat and shorter animal life expectancy and Chizé (CH) with poor habitat and longer animal life expectancy. There was no population difference in tooth wear, leading to rejection of the diet-quality hypothesis. However, despite their smaller body size, initial molar height for animals from CH was larger than for animals from TF. This provides the first evidence that variation in longevity between populations can lead to differences in molar height within a species.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Cervos
/
Ecossistema
/
Atrito Dentário
/
Longevidade
/
Dente Molar
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Biol Lett
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Noruega