Dental enamel hypoplasias in Holocene bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in eastern Washington state, USA

Canadian Journal of Zoology,Volume 96, Issue 5, Page 460-465, May 2018. Dental enamel hypoplasias have been documented in extant and fossil mammal species and attributed to several kinds of physiological stress. They have not previously been reported among bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis Shaw, 1804). Forty-six (36.8%) of 125 mandibular molars (m1, m2, m3) of bighorn recovered from disturbed Holocene archaeological deposits in eastern Washington state display several kinds of hypoplasias. The exact ontogenetic age of the individual animals when hypoplasias formed cannot be determined. The majority of the hypoplasias occur near the root –enamel junction of the m3, suggesting that most individuals were young adults when the defect formed. Physiological stress associated with reproductive costs, winter nutritional deficits, or both seems likely.
Source: Canadian Journal of Zoology - Category: Zoology Authors: Source Type: research