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Line 61: − − Along with many other uses, the tusk primarily functions as a harpoon-like defense mechanism for hunting Polar Bears which roam atop the ice sheet. Narwhals can easily break through the ice, harpooning any polar bear which may fall victim, then dragging the polar prey back into the Arctic water and drowning them. Narwhal studies have shown that Narwhals use their tusks to break through the thick Arctic ice.
Undo revision 670662 by Brasileiro (Talk) Tusk is not used for spearing polar bears!
Once the subject of mythical accounts of magical power, the helix-shaped tusk of the narwhal has proved to be an extraordinary sensory organ, according to a team of researchers from Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Paffenbarger Research Center of the American Dental Association Foundation (ADAF) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The team's results were presented Dec. 13 at a technical conference in San Diego.
Once the subject of mythical accounts of magical power, the helix-shaped tusk of the narwhal has proved to be an extraordinary sensory organ, according to a team of researchers from Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Paffenbarger Research Center of the American Dental Association Foundation (ADAF) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The team's results were presented Dec. 13 at a technical conference in San Diego.
Measuring up to 2.7 meters or about 9 feet long, the tusk is traversed by up to 10 million nerve pathways. These pathways connect the outside of the tusk to a central core of nerves leading to the animal’s brain. Based on experiments with samples of the tusk as well as with a captured narwhal whale, the research team found that the tusk’s sensory system may be capable of detecting changes in temperature, pressure, salinity and other factors that may help a narwhal survive its Arctic environment.
Measuring up to 2.7 meters or about 9 feet long, the tusk is traversed by up to 10 million nerve pathways. These pathways connect the outside of the tusk to a central core of nerves leading to the animal’s brain. Based on experiments with samples of the tusk as well as with a captured narwhal whale, the research team found that the tusk’s sensory system may be capable of detecting changes in temperature, pressure, salinity and other factors that may help a narwhal survive its Arctic environment.