Abstract
Key compendia of Neotropical mammals contain conflicting information regarding the dental formulae of Brazilian carnivores. The objective of the present study was to review the dental formulae of Brazilian Canidae, Felidae, Mephitidae, Mustelidae and Procyonidae. We illustrate the dental morphology of all Brazilian genera, and report intra and interspecific tooth variation, and supernumerary teeth. We examined skulls and mandibles of 710 Brazilian terrestrial carnivores, including juvenile and adult specimens. Adults of all genera have three incisors and one canine in each quadrant. Members of the canid family have the following postcanine formula P 4/4 and M 2/3, except Speothos venaticus (M 1/2); felids have P 3/2 and M 1/1; mephitids present P 2/3 and M 1/2; mustelids show P 2-4/2-3 and M 1/2; and finally, procyonids have P 4/4 and M 2/2, except Potos flavus (P 3/3). Supernumerary teeth were found in individuals of seven genera in every family except Procyonidae. Although our results corroborate previous descriptions based on vouchered material, we detected several incongruences being replicated, possibly due to the lack of examination of museum vouchers, propagating erroneous information without critical analysis. Finally, we present a dichotomous key based on the review of dental morphology.
Highlights
Teeth play a crucial role in mammalian evolution (Bergqvist 2003, Hillson 2005, Ungar 2010) and are important for the classification, diagnosis, and identification of mammalian taxa, in particular carnivores (e. g.: Cope 1879, Savage 1976, Van Valkenburgh 1991)
We report the dental formulae for all genera of Brazilian carnivores, document cases of intra and interspecific variation and supernumerary tooth, and present the replacement order of deciduous teeth in several taxa
All examined specimens have on each quadrant three incisors, located on the premaxilla, and one canine, the first tooth on the maxilla
Summary
Teeth play a crucial role in mammalian evolution (Bergqvist 2003, Hillson 2005, Ungar 2010) and are important for the classification, diagnosis, and identification of mammalian taxa, in particular carnivores (e. g.: Cope 1879, Savage 1976, Van Valkenburgh 1991). The order Carnivora is defined, among other characters, by the loss of the third upper molar (Wesley-Hunt & Flynn 2005) and by the presence of enlarged shearing postcanines, the carnassials, considered a key diagnostic trait for the order (Ungar 2010). The loss of the third lower molar is a diagnostic character for the suborder Feliformia (Wesley-Hunt & Flynn 2005). Researchers have investigated the dentition of Neotropical Carnivora since the early studies of New World mammal fauna (Winge 1895, PaulaCouto 1950, 1979). Several books about Neotropical and Brazilian mammals describe the dental formulae of Carnivora species and are used as primary source for research (e.g.: Reis et al 2010, Eisenberg 1989, Emmons & Feer 1997, Eisenberg & Redford 1999). While performing a revision of this information in the literature, we detected several inconsistencies among these sources as well as factual errors for a few of the taxa in these publications
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
