INTERRELATIONS BETWEEN MANDIBULAR PARAMETERS, AGE AND CARCASS IN FEMALE FALLOW DEER (DAMA DAMA)

The study material included 152 mandibles of female fallow deer aged 3 to 12. Each mandible was characterized by 15 measurements. Based on the Principal Components Analysis it was concluded that the size and dimensional constitution of the mandible change with age. The following parameters are subjected to most significant changes: total length, middle height of the ramus. Additionally, the method indicated that there is a moderate interdependency between the mandibular parameters and an eviscerated carcass mass. Pearson’s correlation coefficient allowed for determining moderate correlations between the carcass mass, mandible total length, breadth of the third molar and middle height of the ramus