A Morphological Study on the Crown Dimensions of the Mandibular Molars in Tupaia glis

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The crown dimensions of the mandibular molars in Tupaia glis were measured. All the mean values of crown diameters and areas were larger for the M₁ molar than for the M₂ and M₃. The last two molars were more reduced in the talonid component than in the trigonid compared to the M₁, and were more reduced in the buccolingual than in the mesiodistal direction. The most common molar size sequence (MSS) was M₁>M₂>M₃, and this pattern was more frequently observed in the talonid component than in the trigonid. In the canonical discriminant analysis, all the cases of the M₃ were discriminated correctly, but some cases of the first two molars were confused with each other. The molars size of the mandible was closely related to that of the maxilla.