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The narwhal was scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 publication Systema Naturae. [5] The word "narwhal" comes from the Old Norse nárhval, meaning 'corpse-whale', which possibly refers to the animal's grey, mottled skin and its habit of remaining motionless when at the water's surface, a behaviour known as "logging" that usually happens in the summer.
In particular, the characteristic narwhal 'horn' is anatomically a tooth; the unidentified specimen lacked a single narwhal tusk, but its teeth were spiraled, like the tusk of a narwhal. [5] [3] The specimen had 18 teeth, an intermediate number when compared to the beluga (40 teeth) and the narwhal (one tooth). However, not all characters fell ...
Horns usually have a curved or spiral shape, often with ridges or fluting. In many species, only males have horns. Horns start to grow soon after birth and continue to grow throughout the life of the animal (except in pronghorns, which shed the outer layer annually, but retain the bony core). Partial or deformed horns in livestock are called scurs.
False alicorn powder, made from the tusks of narwhals or horns of various animals, was sold in Europe for medicinal purposes as late as 1741. [25] The alicorn was thought to cure many diseases and have the ability to detect poisons, and many physicians would make "cures" and sell them.
Most mammals with tusks have a pair of them growing out from either side of the mouth. Tusks are generally curved and have a smooth, continuous surface. The male narwhal's straight single helical tusk, which usually grows out from the left of the mouth, is an exception to the typical features of tusks described above. Continuous growth of tusks ...
Elephant ivory is the most important source, but ivory from mammoth, walrus, hippopotamus, sperm whale, orca, narwhal and warthog are used as well. [10] [11] Elk also have two ivory teeth, which are believed to be the remnants of tusks from their ancestors. [12]
His caretakers do need to hand feed him because he has lost his sense of smell and has poor eyesight due to cataracts. Jonathan is still in good health at the ripe old age of 193 years.
The narwhal has a helical tusk on its upper left jaw. Odobenocetops, an extinct toothed whale, may have possessed similar asymmetrical dentition, though it differed from the narwhal in possessing two erupted, rear-facing tusks with the right significantly longer than the left. [8]