Age Determination of Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus): A Rapid Method and When to Use It

Abstract

(1) The method described enables rapid polishing of sections of bone tissue to permit age determination from annual growth lines. (2) A sample of mandibles from twenty mountain hares of known age from N.E. Scotland provided a calibration for the method. (3) The growth lines probably form during the autumn, in October and November, and hence the method is less accurate if applied then. This loss of accuracy applies generally to age determinations using growth lines and has often been overlooked. (4) In the population of mountain hare females studied in 1984, there was a scarcity of females born in 1980.