High expression of canines in some Mediterranean roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations against the general evolutionary trend
Upper canines do not usually appear in the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)) and their occasional appearance represents the expression of a tooth, as a rudimentary canine, which has been suppressed in the evolution of the group. These dental anomalies could be potentially useful for tr...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión aceptada para publicación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Jaén |
| Repositorio: | RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/6772 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2022-0001 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjz-2022-0001 https://hdl.handle.net/10953/6772 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Mediterranean roe deer Capreolus capreolus dental formula variations tooth numbering upper canines Spain Matemáticas y Ciencias Naturales |
| Sumario: | Upper canines do not usually appear in the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)) and their occasional appearance represents the expression of a tooth, as a rudimentary canine, which has been suppressed in the evolution of the group. These dental anomalies could be potentially useful for tracing ancestral genes in local ecotypes and populations. We studied the skulls of 517 adult roe deer males from seven Iberian Peninsula hunting populations looking for canine occurrence and the variations depending on region and ecomorphological variety. A total of 18 specimens had canines (3.48%), but a relationship was detected between the geographic origin and the canine presence. We found upper canines in three populations that were located in the Tagus River Basin, with 6.08%, 10.91%, and 20% prevalences, respectively. In the population with the highest prevalence, we also found a case of duplicated canines on either side of the upper jaw. Here, the high prevalence of upper canines against the evolutionary trend may be a sign of atavistic populations, possibly adapted to a less fibrous diet, in a geographical area connected through the Tagus River Basin, and probably regarding one of the glacial refuges of the Iberian Peninsula. |
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