38
Dentition in Indian Cattle
[VOL. XVIII, PART I,
All temporary incisors and the first, second and third temporary molars are present at one month.
The fourth permanent molar erupts in 33 per cent of the animals at the age of six months, and is
completely up in all the animals by nine months. At one and a half years the fifth permanent molar
is up in 50 per cent of the animals, while at two years all the permanent molars except the third are
through and rising. At two and a half years they are well up. The first pair of incisors are just rising
in 50 per cent of the animals at two years, while at two and half years they are well up. By the
third year the first and second pairs of incisors are up, and the set of permanent molars is complete.
In the fourth year the third pair of incisors is up. The third pair of incisors are up soon after one
month of the second pair. The corner pairs appear sometimes in the fourth year but are only well up
at four and half a years. The permanent dentition is complete between four and a half to five years,
and all the four pairs of incisors have been brought into wear. In the Hariana cattle examined in
Bengal, dentition is slightly later. The fourth permanent molar is seen in all cases at about nine
months, and the first pair of incisors in all cases is erupted at two and a half years. In all other breeds
the same type of dentition is observed as in the Harianas in Bengal, i.e. the first pair of incisors is
up at two and a half years, and the permanent dentition is complete at five years. Differences
are observed in the case of Amritmahal, in some of which full mouth is obtained a bit later.
In Ponwars, the fourth permanent molar erupts at three months, while the fourth and fifth
both are well up at six months. At nine months the sixth permanent molars are up. The first
pair of incisors erupts at one and a half years, the second at three years and the third and fourth at
four years. Some observations were made in the case of Terai buffalo, in which dentition closely
corresponds to that of Ponwar. In Sahiwals, except that the fourth permanent molar is up earlier,
i.e. it starts erupting at three months, and is up at six months, the usual trend of dentition is the
same as in the Hariana and the same is the case with the Sindhis. The Sahiwal herd at the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, which is kept under an intensive system of management, did not
show any significant variation in dentition from other Sahiwals. The central permanent incisors
are up at two years, corners start coming up at four years one month or so in number of cases and the
mouth is complete at four and a half to five years. Table I may therefore be taken to represent
the dentition more or less for all the breeds in India except for minor differences here and there and
for the fact that in most of them (except Harianas and Sahiwals in the Punjab) the first pair of incisors
is up at two and a half years. All the animals examined were from the various Government farms,
but as no intensive feeding on western lines is practised (except where stated) in any of these farms,
it is likely that the dentition in village cattle will be very much the same. There was no difference
however, in dentition, between the males and females.
Buffaloes
The dentition in buffaloes is more or less the same as that of Indian cattle. In their case, the
central as well as the medial temporary incisors are up even at birth. At one month the three pairs
and at three months all the four pairs are up. At three months the corners are just erupting and
are overlapped at laterals. This overlapping of the corner is noticeable at six months but none is
observed at one year when wearing surfaces are also more extended. At two years, corners have
a characteristic depression on the wearing surface and the centrals are more spaced and have a necked
appearance. At two and a half years, the central pair of permanent incisors is seen and the depression
in the temporary corners is disappearing. The medical pair of permanent incisors comes up at
three and a half years. According to Capt. Hayard, I.A.V.C., through whose courtesy information
on buffaloes has been obtained, the date of eruption of laterals is very variable because some animals
develop six permanent incisors at three and a half years, while others have only four permanent
molars at four years. At six years, all the permanent incisors are up while the corner incisors
develop a hook at the seventh year and the centrals show a star (enamel line). At eight years, the
corner incisors appear more worn ; the hook of the wearing surface disappears and the wearing
surface of the central, middle and lateral incisors begin to show the star : from the front view, the
teeth appear longer and more ridged. The molar teeth were not examined.