Computed Tomography as a Method for Age Determination of Carnivora and Odontocetes with Validation from Individuals with Known Age
Traditional methods for age determination of wildlife include either slicing thin sections off or grinding a tooth, both of which are laborious and invasive. Especially when it comes to ancient and valuable museum samples of rare or extinct species, non-invasive methods are preferable. In this study...
Published in: | Animals |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2023
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://vbn.aau.dk/da/publications/c08c6dea-875e-4d56-b095-842981a5f435 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111783 https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/files/538892126/animals-13-01783-v4.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85161906482&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
Summary: | Traditional methods for age determination of wildlife include either slicing thin sections off or grinding a tooth, both of which are laborious and invasive. Especially when it comes to ancient and valuable museum samples of rare or extinct species, non-invasive methods are preferable. In this study, X-ray micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) was verified as an alternative non-invasive method for age determination of three species within the order of Carnivora and suborders Odontoceti. Teeth from 13 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 2 American mink (Neogale vison), and 2 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) of known age were studied using µ-CT. The number of visible dental growth layers in the µ-CT were highly correlated with true age for all three species (R 2 = 96%, p < 0.001). In addition, the Bland–Altman plot showed high agreement between the age of individuals and visible dental layers represented in 2D slices of the 3D µ-CT images. The true age of individuals was on average 0.3 (±0.6 SD) years higher than the age interpreted by the µ-CT image, and there was a 95% agreement between the true age and the age interpreted from visible dental layers in the µ-CT. |
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