Methodology for the estimation of the age categories of Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris through the cranial and femur morphometry.

GOROSÁBEL, ANTONELLA; CORRIALE, MARÍA JOSÉ; LOPONTE, DANIEL M.

MAMMALIA

WALTER DE GRUYTER & CO

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2017 vol. 81 p. 83 - 90

0025-1461

The aim of this study is to propose a methodologyto estimate the age of individuals of capybaras(Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) using some morphometricmeasurements of the skull and femur. A sample of 250individuals from different age categories was analyzed.These categories were estimated based on the ossificationdegree of the cranial sutures. Out of 28 morphocranialmeasurements taken, nine of them allow us to adequatelydetermine the degree of bone maturation and the relativeage: pre maxillonasal maximum width (MNW), pre maxillonasalminimum width (MNMW), parietal width (PW),intermaxillary width (IMW), maximum width of the 3rdmolar (MW), minimum width of the 3rd molar (MMW),3rd molar length (M3), molar length, and molar 1 and 2length (M12). In case of the femur, the measurements didnot show differences among age categories, thus, we discardedthese morphometric magnitudes as possible ageindicators. This work proposes new measures to estimateand to analyze the relative age structure of the capybarapopulation, providing a useful tool in the management and conservation of this species, and to evaluate paleontologicaland archaeological assemblages.