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Laundr‚, J.W.; Hern ndez, L.; Streubel, D.; Altendorf, K.; L¢pez Gonz lez, C.
Aging mountain lions using gum-line recession
2000 Wildlife Society Bulletin (28): 963-966
The ability to accurately age mountain lions (_Puma concolor_) would be a valuable tool for management. However, no reliable or standardized technique is currently available. We tested the accuracy of using gum recession as an aging technique. We measured gum recession of the upper canine teeth in 13 known-age individuals (12 females, 1 male). Gum recession was significantly related to age in months (R2=81.0, _t_28=10.16, _P_< 0.001). The 95% confidence intervals for age estimations of lions based on gum recession ranged from ñ 0.5 to 1.3 years. Gum recession appears to provide reasonably accurate ages for free-roaming mountain lions.
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