EN
The sample of 1453 specimens of the red fox Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) from Poland was analysed from the point of view of the presence and frequency of congenital dental abnormalities. Deviations from the steady dental pattern were found in 196 specimens (56 females, 100 males and 40 specimens of unknown sex). Together 230 cases of' anomalies were classified to eight different categories of dental abnormalities. The most frequent anomalies were: oligodonties (7.2%; leaving out those of M3 - 2.8%). The frequencies of the remaining categories were the following: deviations from the typical shape of the tooth - 2.5%, hypoplastic changes of the tooth enamel - 2.5%, presence of extra roots - 2.0%, polidonties - 2.0%, irregularities in the position of the teeth - 1.9%, partial split of the crown - 1.4%, partial eruption of the teeth - 0.7%. The frequency of the dental abnormalities was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in males (15.7%) than females (10.5%). Six out of eight categories of the dental abnormalities, ie: oligodonty, polidonty, partial split of the crown, partial eruption of the teeth, deviations from the typical shape of the tooth and irregularities in the position of the teeth, were insignificantly more frequent in males, Additional roots were found equally often among males as females, while enamel hypoplasias occurred insignificantly more frequently among females than among males. The examples of the dental anomalies observed in red fox indicated that in many cases they did not result from the influence of a single factor but they were the effect of a combined operation two or more factors of both genetic and environmental nature.