Title: Narwhal Tusk Facts: Did You Know? | Arctic Kingdom
Headings: Narwhal Tusk Facts: Did You Know
Narwhal Tusk Facts: Did You Know
Profile: The Narwhal
Narwhal Tusks: Did You Know?
Why Do They Have Them?
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Content: If only males tend to grow them, what are they for? It is still unclear the purpose of the tusk. They aren’t used for dueling and they don’t spear food with them. If it was an evolutionary trait for hunting and not dueling then more females would have them. We know it is a tooth but its composition is inverted. While there is normally a hard coating of enamel, dentin, and cementum that shields the sensitive nerves, in fact, the narwhal tusk has nerves on the outside with the dense material on the inside of the hollow tusk and is used as a sensory organ. The tusk has millions of tiny holes and nerve endings on the surface of the tusk. Seawater enters tiny holes in the tusk that channels the water into a “sensory centre” at the base of the tusk. These nerve endings send valuable information to the brain giving it information on the water around them. These external stimuli provide vital knowledge for these Arctic whales.