Dental anomalies in the Japanese mole <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mogera wogura</Emphasis> from northeast China and the Primorsky region of Russia |
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Authors: | Masakazu Asahara Alexey Kryukov Masaharu Motokawa |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan;(2) Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690022, Russia;(3) Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan |
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Abstract: | Dental anomalies in the Japanese mole, Mogera wogura Temminck, 1842, from northeast China and the Primorsky region of Russia were examined based on 241 specimens. The most frequent
dental anomaly was oligodonty, i.e., missing P2 (18 cases) or P3 (one case). Supernumerary teeth were observed in three cases, two of which were characterized by abnormal shapes. Morphological
abnormalities in teeth (six cases) and an asymmetrically curved rostrum (one case) were also observed. Dental anomalies were
found at higher frequencies in populations near the northern range limit of the species. This was not caused by size effects.
We suggest that the high incidence of dental anomalies was the result of genetic drift, which increases in marginal populations.
Considering the nature of subterranean mammals, our results suggest that the high frequency of dental anomalies in a marginal
population could have initiated the evolution of dental formulae if parapatric or peripatric speciation occurs in such populations. |
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