title: Bigger teeth for longer life? Longevity and molar height in two roe deer populations.
abstract: The role of tooth wear as a proximate cause of senescence in ruminants has recently been highlighted. There are two competing hypotheses to explain variation in tooth height and wear; the diet-quality hypothesis predicting increased wear in low-quality habitats, and the life-history hypothesis predicting molar height to be related to expected longevity. We compared tooth height and wear from roe deer of known age from two contrasting populations of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in France: Trois Fontaines (TF) with good habitat and shorter animal life expectancy and Chizé (CH) with poor habitat and longer animal life expectancy. There was no population difference in tooth wear, leading to rejection of the diet-quality hypothesis. However, despite their smaller body size, initial molar height for animals from CH was larger than for animals from TF. This provides the first evidence that variation in longevity between populations can lead to differences in molar height within a species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Arctic Biology, University Centre in Svalbard, PO Box 156, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway.
authors.forename: Vebjørn
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Veiberg
authors.forename: Atle
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mysterud
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delorme
authors.forename: Guy Van
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Laere
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003670:Deer; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009811:Odontometry / Q000662:veterinary; D019217:Tooth Attrition / Q000662:veterinary*