Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:45:25.939Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Visible supernumerary teeth in pinnipeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2006

Liz Cruwys  and
Adrian Friday
Liz Cruwys
Affiliation:
Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER
Adrian Friday
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Additional, or supernumerary, teeth occur in most mammalian taxa, although they are better recorded in some species than in others. As part of a larger biometric study, incidence of visible supernumerary teeth was recorded in the skulls of 1228 pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and fur seals). Results showed that supernumerary teeth only occurred in the postcanine (molars and premolars) tooth row. It was also found that 3.3% of otariids (sea lions and fur seals) and 4.7% of phocids (‘true’ seals) possessed supernumerary postcanines. Out of a total of 52 supernumererary teeth recorded, only six were morphologically abberant; all the others played a functional role in the normal tooth row.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 83 - 85
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)