| Abstrakt: |
Belugas, I Delphinapterus leucas i , Pallas (1776) are toothed whales of the Monodontidae family which includes only one other species, the narwhal, I Monodon monoceros i . Tooth collection procedures were dependent on when the teeth were collected (protocols changed through the years to include collection of the entire mandible when possible), the length of time the whale was dead, the whale's position on the ground, who collected the teeth, and the physical location of the carcass. Comparing ages for whales with at least one mandible containing all posterior teeth 6-8 (54 whales, I n i = 36 right mandibles, 37 left mandibles; see Table S2), we found these teeth represented 84% of the final ages. Tooth 8 and tooth 9 (when present), provided the oldest ages (i.e., final age) most often (33%-62% of mandibles) compared to tooth 6 and 7 (14%-25%), though it should be noted that sometimes multiple teeth matched the final age (Table S2). [Extracted from the article] |
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