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On the carnassial tooth cusps in recent red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes L .) in Finland and Denmark
Author(s) -
PULLIAINEN ERKKI,
RANTANEN AIMO V.,
SALO LEO J.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0722.1972.tb00297.x
Subject(s) - vulpes , dentistry , geography , biology , orthodontics , medicine , predation , paleontology
– The dimensions of the first mandibular molar tooth of 126 Danish and 102 northern Finnish red foxes were measured. Special attention was given to the occurrence and characteristics of the carnassial tooth cusps between the trigonid and the talonid. The dimensions of first mandibular molars showed an evident sexual dimorfism in the red fox. In both Finnish and Danish populations, the females were smaller than the males. In the Finnish material, the proportion of the cuspless m 1 was 14.5 % in the males and 14.9 % in the females, whereas the cuspless M 1 amounted to 3.2 % of the Danish sample. The Danish foxes had higher accessory cusps than the Finnish ones. The first mandibular molar was slightly larger in the Finnish red fox population than in the Danish one. The occurrence of the accessory carnassial tooth cusp in the Danish fox population is assumed to be due to the maxing of the two morphotypes, the cuspless type having the possibility of wandering in from Sweden.