Dental radiography analysis of common bottlenose dolphins from strandings and health assessments in the northern Gulf of Mexico, 2011-01-25 to 2018-07-20

Dental radiography can be used to estimate the age of toothed animals, based on the ratio of the pulp area to tooth area. To evaluate whether this is a viable technique in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), we collected radiographs of live dolphins during health assessments in Barataria Bay, Louisiana; Mississippi Sound, Mississippi/Alabama; and Sarasota Bay, Florida (5/6/2013-7/20/2018), as well as radiographs of carcasses from stranded dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana (1/25/2011-5/19/2014). This dataset supports the publication: Herrman, Jean M Jeanine S. Morey, Ryan Takeshita, Sylvain De Guise, Randall S. Wells, Wayne McFee, Todd Speakman, Forrest Townsend, Cynthia R. Smith, Teresa Rowles, and Lori Schwacke. 2020. Age determination of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) using dental radiography pulp:tooth area ratio measurements. PLOS ONE, 15(11), e0242273. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0242273