Computed Tomography as a Method for Age Determination of Carnivora and Odontocetes with Validation from Individuals with Known Age

Traditional methods for age determination of wildlife include either slicing thin sections off or grinding a tooth, both which are laborious and invasive. Especially when it comes to ancient valuable museum samples rare extinct species, non-invasive preferable. In this study, X-ray micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) was verified as an alternative method three species within the order Carnivora suborders Odontoceti. Teeth from 13 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 2 American mink (Neogale vison), harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) known were studied using µ-CT. The number visible dental growth layers in µ-CT highly correlated with true all (R2 = 96%, p < 0.001). addition, Bland–Altman plot showed high agreement between individuals represented 2D slices 3D images. on average 0.3 (±0.6 SD) years higher than interpreted by image, there 95%