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Age determination of the female Grant's gazelle
Author(s) -
SPINAGE C. A.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2028.1976.tb00157.x
Subject(s) - cementum , molar , latitude , biology , geography , dentistry , demography , medicine , paleontology , geodesy , dentin , sociology
Summary Several complementary methods of age determination were investigated in the female Grant's gazelle from an equatorial latitude. It was found that, despite its probable year‐round homeostasis, there was an average of two prominent lines per year visible in the tooth cementum, most consistent results being obtained from the incisor teeth. Tentative corroboration was afforded by a wear model based on decreasing molar height. The female carries continuously growing horns with a distinctive zone of retarded growth at the base in adults, but the extent of this zone was too variable for use in field age determination; and the disappearance of the black lateral band, distinctive in young animals, was not consistent with increasing age.