| Many methods of age determination have been used to date. However, most of them require laboratory procedures which are, in general, not available for wildlife managers in the field. In this paper we attempt to standardize the age categories for six mammal species through the analysis of dental wear, dental eruption and body mass. We analyzed 632 skulls, including Mazama nemorivaga (brown brocket deer), Mazama americana (red brocket deer), Tayassu pecari (white-lipped peccary), Pecari tajacu (collared peccary), Cuniculus paca (paca) and Dasyprocta leporina (agouti). Using biological and morphological criteria we define four age categories: young, sub adult, adult and senescent adult. Scores and variables of molar cusp wear and eruption were defined for... |
