What is a narwhal tusk?<\/h2>
A male narwhal only has one tooth \u2013 the upper-left canine, to be precise. But, oh, what a tooth. <\/p>
Not for nothing is this Arctic whale\u2019s scientific name\u00a0Monodon monoceros<\/em>, from the Greek for “one-tooth one-horn.” <\/p> Projecting straight forward rather than downwards from an otherwise toothless mouth, it emerges through the top lip, twisting anticlockwise as it grows. Without it, a 6m-long whale would be a 4m-long whale. No wonder narwhals\u2019 tusks were long prized and traded as unicorn horns.<\/p> The fact that only the males have tusks suggests they are there for the purposes of sexual display, like a peacock\u2019s tail, advertising a male\u2019s quality to potential mates or rivals. But unlike peacocks\u2019 tails, narwhals\u2019 tusks are more than just eye-candy. They seem to have a few practical uses, too.<\/p> Males have been documented swishing them back and forth to stun fast-moving prey, for example, much like sailfish use their elongated snouts. Dotted with nerve endings, they might well have a sensory function, too \u2013 detecting sound, smell or touch, perhaps. And it\u2019s not hard to imagine how they could make a hungry orca think twice about launching an attack. Females, though, seem to get on perfectly well without them.<\/p> Check out our comprehensive guide to narwhals<\/a>, as well as a guide to minke whales<\/a>, blue whale facts<\/a> and where to see whales around the UK<\/a>.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n What is the narwhal’s tusk? How long can it grow? What’s it used for? Read on to find out the answers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36724,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/it-looks-like-a-unicorns-horn-but-the-truth-behind-a-narwhals-tusk-is-even-stranger-than-fiction.jpg",2560,1771,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/it-looks-like-a-unicorns-horn-but-the-truth-behind-a-narwhals-tusk-is-even-stranger-than-fiction-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/it-looks-like-a-unicorns-horn-but-the-truth-behind-a-narwhals-tusk-is-even-stranger-than-fiction-300x208.jpg",300,208,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/it-looks-like-a-unicorns-horn-but-the-truth-behind-a-narwhals-tusk-is-even-stranger-than-fiction-768x531.jpg",768,531,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/it-looks-like-a-unicorns-horn-but-the-truth-behind-a-narwhals-tusk-is-even-stranger-than-fiction-1024x708.jpg",800,553,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/it-looks-like-a-unicorns-horn-but-the-truth-behind-a-narwhals-tusk-is-even-stranger-than-fiction-1536x1063.jpg",1536,1063,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/03\/it-looks-like-a-unicorns-horn-but-the-truth-behind-a-narwhals-tusk-is-even-stranger-than-fiction-2048x1417.jpg",2048,1417,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"What is the narwhal's tusk? How long can it grow? What's it used for? Read on to find out the answers.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How long does a narwhal tusk grow?<\/h2>
What do narwhal use their tusk for?<\/h2>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/03\/narwhal-1-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Want to find out more?<\/h3>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"