Attrition of the teeth in ferrets

Wear patterns of the teeth have been compared in two closely related populations of mustelids, one being of laboratory reared ferrets ( Mustela putorius furo ) which had been fed a dry pelleted diet, the other of wild polecats ( Mustela putorius ). The dentitions could be distinguished from each other according to the nature and degree of shearing activity on the carnassial teeth. Such differences appear to be a function of diet texture and this view was supported by a pilot, dietary experiment. The amount of calculus present was heavy in pellet‐fed ferrets and virtually absent in wild polecats.