Abstract
A unified ranking scheme to assess variation of teeth according to their complexity was developed for arvicolines based on an analysis of the existing descriptive classifications of molar morphotypes and comparison of dental variability in species of the subfamily Arvicolinae, which are widespread in northern Eurasia. The scheme relies on counting the number of additional prisms of the crown and the corresponding number of dentine elements of the occlusal surface in m1, m2, m3, M1, M2, and M3. This approach allows us to consider the dental complexity as an interval scale quantitative variable; it can be implemented when comparing the arvicoline taxa separated by various phylogenetic distances or when studying temporal or spatial patterns of intraspecific variation. Based on analyzing the frequencies of the ranked complexity estimates in different species, a model to describe the morphological shift toward increased tooth complexity in arvicolines is proposed.
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Original Russian Text © E.A. Markova, 2013, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2013, Vol. 92, No. 8, pp. 968–980.
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Markova, E.A. Assessment of tooth complexity in arvicolines (Rodentia): A morphotype ranking approach. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 41, 589–600 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359014070061
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359014070061