The deciduous, or milk, dentition, of _Mustela frenata_, as known from
immature specimens of _Mustela frenata noveboracensis_ and _Mustela
frenata frenata_ available for this study, is comprised of canines, one
on each side above and below, and 3 cheek teeth on each side above and
below. See figures 2-9. The upper cheek teeth from anterior to
posterior are: a minute peglike tooth in general similar to the first
premolar of the permanent dentition; a shearing tooth in general
similar to P4 of the permanent dentition; and an anteroposteriorly
compressed tooth in general similar to M1 of the permanent dentition.
In the lower jaw, behind the canine, there is first a minute peglike
tooth, second a two-rooted tooth similar in general outline to a
permanent third premolar, and finally a shearing tooth corresponding in
function to m1 of the permanent dentition.
No postnatal specimens which show deciduous incisors have been
examined.
Selected, outstanding differences between the permanent teeth and the
deciduous teeth are as follows: In the deciduous teeth the canine above
has on the posterior face a well-defined ridge extending from the tip
to the cingulum. This ridge is absent or at most faintly indicated in
the permanent tooth. The lower deciduous canine, in cross section is
seen to have a marked indentation on the anteromedial border in the
region of the cingulum; this indentation is lacking in the permanent
tooth. The anterior one of the deciduous cheek teeth, both above and
below, is single rooted and its crown-surface is only about
one-fifteenth as much as that of the anterior premolar of the permanent
dentition. The second deciduous cheek tooth below has two roots,
usually fused, and differs from p4 of the permanent dentition in having
the tip of the principal cusp more recurved, in having the anterior
basal cusp better developed and the posterior heel less well developed.
The second deciduous cheek tooth above corresponds in function and
general plan of construction to P4 of the permanent dentition but
differs from that tooth in the more pronounced protostyle, longer
tritocone, more posteriorly located deuterocone and as noted by Leche
(1915:322) separation of the protocone and tritocone by a notch. The
third upper deciduous tooth has a single cusp internally and two cusps
laterally. Thus it reverses the relation of parts seen in M1 where the
internal moiety is larger than the lateral or buccal moiety. The third
deciduous tooth below differs from m1 in very much shorter talonid and
separation of the paraconid from the protoconid by a deeper notch.
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