Age variability of chewing surfaces of teeth of moose (Alces alces L.) in the basin of river Vyatka

Pages: 48-51.

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Characteristics of changes in the chewing surfaces of the teeth are usually considered as the criteria for determining the age of the moose. Currently, it is impracticable to determine the age of old animals. The reason is the lack of standards dentition elk older than 10 years. There are cases of survival of elk to age 18-22 years. In this case, for the study of age transformation of teeth a collection of 43 skulls and 187 lower jaws of moose harvested at the end of the past century in the Vyatka River basin in the east of the Kirov region is inspected. Changing in the chewing surfaces of the teeth of elk is demonstrated in photos of the dentition of the jaws of animals of different ages. Visual representation of the changes allows to assess the age of elk teeth transformation of specific habitats more fully.

Keywords: moose, teeth, chewing surfaces, age