Which dental feature is characteristic of white-tailed deer, like other true deer?
Answer
Lack of upper incisor teeth
The dental structure of the white-tailed deer is a direct reflection of its herbivorous diet as a specialized grazer and browser. Like all true deer species, they are missing upper incisor teeth in their front jaw. Instead of incisors on the top, they possess a tough, hardened, bony plate. When clipping vegetation, the lower incisors press firmly against this firm upper pad to shear off plant material. Biologists often use the wear patterns observed on their lower molars, which function for grinding fibrous material, as a useful metric for estimating the age of deceased specimens, given the predictable progression of tooth eruption and wear over time.
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