Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals
Carcasses resulting from natural mortalities are invaluable for use in scientific studies, provided species, sex, and age class are known. When such data are unavailable, identifying skeletal remains is necessary if one is to use the information contained within samples. Teeth are amongst the best p...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9828835/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36223543 https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21521 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:9828835 2023-05-15T13:40:01+02:00 Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals Pretorius, Liezl E. Bester, Marthán N. Connan, Maëlle Hofmeyr, G. J. Greg 2022-11-15 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9828835/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36223543 https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21521 en eng John Wiley and Sons Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9828835/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36223543 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21521 © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Morphology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. CC-BY-NC-ND J Morphol Research Articles Text 2022 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21521 2023-01-15T01:56:35Z Carcasses resulting from natural mortalities are invaluable for use in scientific studies, provided species, sex, and age class are known. When such data are unavailable, identifying skeletal remains is necessary if one is to use the information contained within samples. Teeth are amongst the best preserved skeletal remains owing to the durability of enamel and dentine. Here, we tested whether external measurements of canines could be used to distinguish two partially sympatric species of Southern Ocean fur seals, the Antarctic Arctocephalus gazella and Sub‐Antarctic A. tropicalis fur seals. We also investigated whether the external measurements of canines could be used to determine the age, sex, as well as island of origin of the animals. Eight morphological variables (crown length, root length, crown width, root width, crown thickness, root thickness, total canine length, and count of external surface annular ridges) were recorded from canines of 340 individuals of known species, sex, and island of origin. The count of external annular ridges provided a good estimate of age, which was confirmed by counting the growth layer groups of sectioned teeth, especially for older animals (> 9 years old). External canine measurements proved useful in distinguishing species, as well as sex within and between species, particularly in adult animals. Species were more difficult to distinguish in females than in males. The islands of origin could only be inferred in male Antarctic fur seals. This study indicates that fur seal teeth of unknown provenance, found either in breeding colonies or as vagrants, provide evidence on species, sex, and age of the animal, which increases the value of associated samples. It further highlights the importance of external measurements of skeletal remains such as canine teeth in separating closely related species. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella Southern Ocean PubMed Central (PMC) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Journal of Morphology 283 12 1546 1560 |
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Research Articles |
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Research Articles Pretorius, Liezl E. Bester, Marthán N. Connan, Maëlle Hofmeyr, G. J. Greg Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals |
topic_facet |
Research Articles |
description |
Carcasses resulting from natural mortalities are invaluable for use in scientific studies, provided species, sex, and age class are known. When such data are unavailable, identifying skeletal remains is necessary if one is to use the information contained within samples. Teeth are amongst the best preserved skeletal remains owing to the durability of enamel and dentine. Here, we tested whether external measurements of canines could be used to distinguish two partially sympatric species of Southern Ocean fur seals, the Antarctic Arctocephalus gazella and Sub‐Antarctic A. tropicalis fur seals. We also investigated whether the external measurements of canines could be used to determine the age, sex, as well as island of origin of the animals. Eight morphological variables (crown length, root length, crown width, root width, crown thickness, root thickness, total canine length, and count of external surface annular ridges) were recorded from canines of 340 individuals of known species, sex, and island of origin. The count of external annular ridges provided a good estimate of age, which was confirmed by counting the growth layer groups of sectioned teeth, especially for older animals (> 9 years old). External canine measurements proved useful in distinguishing species, as well as sex within and between species, particularly in adult animals. Species were more difficult to distinguish in females than in males. The islands of origin could only be inferred in male Antarctic fur seals. This study indicates that fur seal teeth of unknown provenance, found either in breeding colonies or as vagrants, provide evidence on species, sex, and age of the animal, which increases the value of associated samples. It further highlights the importance of external measurements of skeletal remains such as canine teeth in separating closely related species. |
format |
Text |
author |
Pretorius, Liezl E. Bester, Marthán N. Connan, Maëlle Hofmeyr, G. J. Greg |
author_facet |
Pretorius, Liezl E. Bester, Marthán N. Connan, Maëlle Hofmeyr, G. J. Greg |
author_sort |
Pretorius, Liezl E. |
title |
Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals |
title_short |
Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals |
title_full |
Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals |
title_fullStr |
Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in Southern Ocean fur seals |
title_sort |
canine morphometrics as a tool for distinguishing species, sex, and age class in southern ocean fur seals |
publisher |
John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9828835/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36223543 https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21521 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella Southern Ocean |
op_source |
J Morphol |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9828835/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36223543 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21521 |
op_rights |
© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Morphology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21521 |
container_title |
Journal of Morphology |
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283 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1546 |
op_container_end_page |
1560 |
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1766127019363401728 |