Recording Structures of Mammals
Contributors: M. V. Mina (Translator); A. V. Oreshkin (Translator)
Publisher: CRC
Published: June 1, 1995
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 448
ISBN-13: 9789054106210
Subjects: Animal pathology & diseases; Animal physiology; Physical Anthropology; Nature; Animals; Science/Mathematics; Nature / Animals; Mammals
First sentence: The term 'recording structures' (Mina &amp; Klevezal 1970a) comprises such animal structures as shells of mollusc, scales, otoliths, and bones of fishes, bones of amphibians, reptiles and mammals, dentin and cementum of mammalian teeth, horny substance of claws and horns of some mammals, etc.
Description: This book is focused on the principals and methods of using growth layers formed in teeth and bones of mammals and to make a judgement on essential traits of the animal's life history.

Nearly in all mammalian species including man, the age of individuals can be determined from the number of growth layers and, at least in some of them, it is possible to estimate the season of an animal's birth and death, the age of sexual maturation, periodicity of reproduction, certain feeding habits and other aspects of the individual's biology. It is also possible, from tooth enamel analysis, to assess dose of radiation accumulated by animals and human beings during their lifetime.

. The book is intended mainly for zoologists, wild-game biologists, and zoo-archaeologists, but some of the sections can also be of interest for anthropologists, radio-ecologists and conservation biologists.