Kohn L A, Olson P, Cheverud J M
Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63108, USA.
Am J Primatol. 1997;41(2):129-39. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2345(1997)41:2<129::AID-AJP5>3.0.CO;2-Z.
Estimates of the chronological age for animals of unknown age provide useful information for medical, demographic, and evolutionary studies. Skeletal development, as indicated by epiphyseal closure, can be used to estimate an animal's chronological age or specify its stage of development. Many studies of Primate skeletal development have used animals of unknown age, with the order of epiphyseal closure providing a relative age for each animal. This study examines the age of epiphyseal closure at 22 epiphyseal sites using animals of known age at death in three calitrichid species (Saguinus fuscicollis, Saguinus oedipus, and Callithrix jacchus). The observed average age of epiphyseal closure is similar in these tamarins and marmosets. There is a significant difference in rate of development between the species. Regression equations can predict the age of unknown animals to within 4.8 months for S. fuscicollis, 8.6 months for S. oedipus, and 7.6 months for C. jacchus (twice the standard error of the estimate). These age estimates allow us to determine if an animal is relatively mature or immature, but are largely unacceptable for studies in which precise age estimates are necessary. The order of epiphyseal closure is similar across 11 monkey species (using additional data from published literature) and supports the suggestion of a general pattern in Primate skeletal development.
对年龄未知的动物进行实足年龄估计可为医学、人口统计学和进化研究提供有用信息。骨骺闭合所显示的骨骼发育情况可用于估计动物的实足年龄或确定其发育阶段。许多关于灵长类动物骨骼发育的研究使用了年龄未知的动物，骨骺闭合顺序为每只动物提供了相对年龄。本研究利用三种狨猴科物种（褐喉小绢猴、普通棉耳绒猴和白喉卷尾猴）已知死亡年龄的动物，对22个骨骺部位的骨骺闭合年龄进行了研究。在这些绢猴和狨猴中，观察到的骨骺平均闭合年龄相似。不同物种之间的发育速度存在显著差异。回归方程可以将未知动物的年龄预测到褐喉小绢猴在4.8个月内、普通棉耳绒猴在8.6个月内、白喉卷尾猴在7.6个月内（估计标准误差的两倍）。这些年龄估计使我们能够确定一只动物是相对成熟还是不成熟，但对于需要精确年龄估计的研究来说，这些估计在很大程度上是不可接受的。在11种猴子物种中（使用已发表文献中的其他数据），骨骺闭合顺序相似，这支持了灵长类动物骨骼发育存在一般模式的观点。
