May I invite those who, like me, are impressed by the teeth of the ferret,
especially those huge upper canine teeth.  I am reminded of the
saber-toothed tiger, whose K9's were just awsome.  And of all the few
carnivores I've seen, none seem to have the magnificent K9's of the ferret.
That is, in comparison to the size of the much smaller ferret.
 
Certainly in the world of carnivores there are animals with much longer,
heavier K9's than the ferret.  But how could one compare the K9's of vastley
different sized animals in a meaningful way?
 
I should like to propose a fairly simple way to do this, as follows:
 
Having procured a fresh, female ferret skull, approximately 3 years of age,
with nearly complete dentition, I have made the following measurements of
the skull.
 
1)  The total length of the extracted maxillary (upper jaw) K9 is 15 mm, the
crown about 7 mm and the root about 6 mm, with 2 mm of dentine at the point
of insertion into the root socket.
 
2) To compare the rest of the maxillary jaw I performed two measurements.
These two measurements: width (arc)of the jaw and the depth of the jaw,
respectively at 19 mm and 23 mm. (See below for measurement geometry.)
 
With these 3 numbers that relate the length of the ferret's K9 to its
"mouth" one may determine a factor for this particular female ferret, very
simply, as follows:
 
  K9 length @ 15 mm divided by arc @ 19 mm times depth @ 23 mm yield s a
  number of 18.16.  Similary, given a shorter K9 length of 10 mm yields a
  number of 12.11 for the same female, as an example.
 
Now the question arises that I appeal for help from those of you who may
have any experience in working with skeletal subjects, such as in
archeological anthropology, in ferret anatomy or in other related science.
 
May someone help me how to determine the relative length of the ferret's
K9's to the K9's of other carnivorous animals?
 
Although purely intuitive, it is an opinion I hold now, that the ferret's
K9 teeth are longer by X-percent than any other carnivore.  If true, what
is this percentage?
 
  NOTES:  1)  Arc measurement geometry: length of an imaginary line
              connecting distal surfaces of maxillary molars.
 
          2) Depth measurement geometry: distance between anterior surface
              of incisor arc and an imaginary line extending between distal
              and posterointernal surfaces of maxillary molars.
 
Thank you,
 
Edward Frettchenvergnuegen Lipinski,  Der Frettchenlustbarkeitsfuerher !
[Posted in FML issue 2104]