Elephant tusks are modified, well-developed and continuously growing teeth - incisors or fangs (depending on whether the animal belongs to a particular species).
Ivory teeth
In the mouth of these land animals, in addition to the tusks protruding outward, there are four more molars (two in the upper and lower jaw), consisting of many enamel scales connected to each other and allowing elephants to grind food. In the Asian elephant, chewing teeth are ribbon-shaped, and in the African - diamond-shaped.
The change of molars occurs about six times throughout the elephant's life, with new teeth growing behind old ones.
As for the shape of the tusks, they are thin in the Indian (Asian) elephant (in females, there are no tusks at all). The tusks of the African elephant are thick and huge, and their length sometimes reaches two or more meters.
What is the difference between the Indian elephant and the African?
Tusks of the largest adult Indian elephant grow to a maximum of one and a half meter length and weigh 20 - 25 kg. The growth of this animal can reach 3 m, and weight - 5 tons.
The tusk of an elephant grown in northern India is thick and strongly curved, and the tusks of its relatives, settled in southern Africa, are thin and sharp, and the farther south the area is, the thinner and sharper these formations are.
Indian elephants, unlike African elephants, live exclusively in the forest, with preference being given to undergrowths from bamboo thickets.
African elephants inhabit both the forest and the savannah, and are the largest terrestrial mammals, as evidenced by the entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
An ordinary African elephant weighs up to 5 tons, and an elephant weighs more than 2, but less than 3 tons. The maximum length of the tusk of the African elephant is 3 m.
The largest representative of this species of elephants was shot dead in 1974 in Angola. This male weighed more than 12 tons.
Amazing details
Elephants do not feel panic at all when they encounter a mouse - this is fiction. To blow away such a tiny animal, and with it stones and other heavy objects that are nearby, it’s enough for an elephant to exhale.
Truly, these giants are afraid of ordinary honey bees. Hearing the buzzing of an approaching bee swarm, the elephants immediately set off. But these animals can hardly be called cowardly creatures. They are very careful and smart. By the way, the elephant is included in the list of the most intelligent animals on Earth.
Few people know that the elephant is the owner of exceptional hearing, as well as excellent memory and smell. An elephant is able to remember places that are symbolic for him, as well as people who have treated him badly (or well). But the elephant’s most amazing quality is a good ear for music, allowing him to remember and subsequently recognize a melody of three notes. True, he likes low notes much more than high and sonorous notes.
Unlike other representatives of the animal world, the elephant seems to have an idea of death. Elephants are able to identify the corpses (and even bones) of their fellow tribesmen. Researchers were amazed at how the indifference with which elephants relate to the remains of other living creatures was replaced by a manifestation of concern and sympathy for the corpses of relatives.
Seeing the skeleton of an elephant, these animals can’t pass by: they begin to tensely feel the remains of the trunk, paying special attention to the head of the deceased. Having thoroughly probed the skull with trunks, as if trying to identify the untimely departed friend, the elephants do not throw his lifeless body to be torn to pieces by scavenger animals, but fall asleep with dry foliage.
When one of the members of the herd is mortally wounded, healthy elephants, as if accompanying a relative to a better world, are on duty around him and do not disperse to the very end …
Why does an elephant have tusks?
With the help of this “tool” the elephant uproots trees and sometimes defends itself from enemies, the main of which is man. An enraged elephant with tusks (photo below), the length of which is sometimes equal to its own growth, is a serious danger for both its brethren and humans, but the rage of elephants is a rare phenomenon. Elephant tusks are more a punishment from nature than a gift. Particularly sad is the fate of African elephants, whose tusks have always been very highly regarded.
With the arrival of a white man with a gun on the “black” continent, Africa ceased to be an “elephant's paradise”. Ruthlessly exterminating the good-natured giants for the sake of precious tusks, European poachers left their carcasses to be eaten by hyenas and vultures.
Where is the elephant cemetery located?
Interesting fact: no one ever found the tusks of dead African elephants. This circumstance formed the basis of numerous legends that inventive local people never tire of composing. The most inveterate smugglers were ready to believe in the existence of mysterious elephant cemeteries … but here the researchers of wildlife took up the matter.
According to information provided by naturalists of the 20th century, elephant tusks serve as a source of mineral substances for porcupines, which, with the advent of the rainy season, completely lose the minerals contained in the soil.
The question of the disappearance of tusks has long remained open for the reason that porcupines are nocturnal animals.
Ivory features
An elephant’s tusk is characterized by a soft, plastic texture with a small number of cracks, but due to the fact that transportation across state borders, as well as storage of ivory products, is prohibited, buying this material is pointless.
Outside, elephant tusks are mostly smooth and light, and from the inside they resemble hollow cone-shaped pulps, and the internal voids reach almost the middle of the length of the tusks.
How to distinguish an elephant's tusk from a fake from another material
Experts working with antiques note that very often the role of elephant tusks is played by quite high-quality plastic or ceramic fakes, which look very similar to carved ivory. Some forgers give out for ivory tusks synthetic materials with bone chip filler, which are also difficult to distinguish from natural material.
For the manufacture of fakes, in most cases, casting and manual painting methods are used. If you look at the work of counterfeiters with your armed eye, you can find lines of seams and traces of gates. But the main difference is considered unnatural smoothness and lightness of non-natural products.
Elephant tusks often give another, cheaper bone, but not always the reason is the high cost of natural material. It’s just that often sellers, being, in fact, resellers, themselves do not know what they are selling.
There are also frequent cases when crafts from the bones of their ancient ancestor - the mammoth - were given out for products from an elephant's tusk. By the way, mammoth tusks are prohibited not only for transportation, but also for processing.
The authorities of Thailand decided on an interesting experiment in March 2015, legalizing the storage of ivory. The population was asked to register the tusks of elephants and mammoths illegally stored in their houses in order to turn from smugglers into law-abiding citizens.
As it turned out, ivory souvenirs are stored in almost all the inhabitants of the country. Those who decided to register their treasures, as promised, the state exempted from liability for illegal possession of contraband goods.
As it turned out, in many families ivory and mammoth products played the role of relics and were kept for posterity. Now the owners of family values can be calm.
Thai citizens who do not respond to the call of the authorities will face a fine of $ 200, 000 or 3 years in prison.
