A Morphological and Morphometric Dental Analysis as a Forensic Tool to Identify the Iberian Wolf (Canis Lupus Signatus)
1
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
2
University Institute of Research in Police Sciences (IUICP), University of Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
3
Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary, Universidad Complutense of Madrid (UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain
4
Centro de Investigación en Odontología Legal y Forense (CIO), Facultad de Odontología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4780000, Chile
5
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Odontológicas, Facultad de Odontología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4780000, Chile
6
Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Temuco 4780000, Chile
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2020, 10(6), 975; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10060975
Received: 22 April 2020
/
Revised: 28 May 2020
/
Accepted: 30 May 2020
/
Published: 3 June 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Animal Anatomy)
Simple Summary
Attacks by Iberian wolves on farm animals routinely cause conflicts with humans and threaten their economic interests related to livestock. However, wolf predation can sometimes be confused with that caused by other carnivores like dogs. Some studies have tried to identify or differentiate canids as the predators responsible for such attacks by analysing their tooth/bite marks on bone remains. Nevertheless, most of those studies have only considered a few dental measurements, and they were carried out in a palaeoecological and zooarchaeological context. As there is still limited information on Iberian wolf‘s dental anatomy that can be used in forensic cases, this study aimed to describe the morphology of the Iberian wolf‘s teeth and to provide new morphometric characteristics, as complete as possible, to collaborate in the correct interpretation of a wolf‘s bite marks at crime scenes. Based on the morphometric dental analysis, it was possible to differentiate female and male wolves. Moreover, the dental morphometric characteristics described can be used, at least as a reference, to identify the Iberian wolf‘s tooth/bite marks or to rule out other potential aggressors.
Depredation by the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) is currently thought to be a problem in some areas of Spain. However, there are few technically validated forensic tools available to determine the veracity of claims with a high degree of scientific confidence, which is important given that such attacks may lead to compensation. The analysis of bite marks on attacked animals could provide scientific evidence to help identify the offender. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the morphological and morphometric characteristics of Iberian wolf dentition. This data collection would serve as a base-point for a more accurate identification of the wolves thorough their bite marks. For the first time, 36 dental variables have been studied in wolves’ skulls, employing univariate and multivariate analyses. The general morphological dental characteristics of wolves are very similar in terms of their dental formula and tooth structure to other canids, like domestic dogs. Sex differentiation was evident, principally in terms of the maxillary distance between the palatal surfaces of the canine teeth (UbC) and the width of the left mandibular canine teeth (LlCWd). New morphometric reference information was obtained that can aid the forensic identification of bite marks caused by the Iberian wolf with greater confidence.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
forensics; analysis; Iberian wolf; bite marks; veterinary; dentistry
▼
Show Figures
Graphical abstract
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
- Supplementary File 1:
PDF-Document (PDF, 275 KiB)
MDPI and ACS Style
Toledo González, V.; Ortega Ojeda, F.; Fonseca, G.M.; García-Ruiz, C.; Navarro Cáceres, P.; Pérez-Lloret, P.; Marín García, M.d.P. A Morphological and Morphometric Dental Analysis as a Forensic Tool to Identify the Iberian Wolf (Canis Lupus Signatus). Animals 2020, 10, 975. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10060975
AMA Style
Toledo González V, Ortega Ojeda F, Fonseca GM, García-Ruiz C, Navarro Cáceres P, Pérez-Lloret P, Marín García MdP. A Morphological and Morphometric Dental Analysis as a Forensic Tool to Identify the Iberian Wolf (Canis Lupus Signatus). Animals. 2020; 10(6):975. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10060975
Chicago/Turabian StyleToledo González, Víctor, Fernando Ortega Ojeda, Gabriel M. Fonseca, Carmen García-Ruiz, Pablo Navarro Cáceres, Pilar Pérez-Lloret, and María d.P. Marín García. 2020. "A Morphological and Morphometric Dental Analysis as a Forensic Tool to Identify the Iberian Wolf (Canis Lupus Signatus)" Animals 10, no. 6: 975. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10060975
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
