Tuskless Elephants: Why Do Certain Elephants Not Have Tusks?

Elephants are one of the most famous animals in the world, even though they only grow naturally on two continents. Many idioms and cultural references to the elephant’s trunk, heavy limbs, gigantic size, and tusks. But do you believe that not all elephants have tusks?

Elephants without tusks exist, and their numbers grow with each new generation of elephants. Why do some elephants have no tusks? Are all elephants without tusks female? Read on to find out.

Ivory: what are they?

The tusks are constantly growing elephant teeth. Unlike wild boars and walruses, tusks are not extended canines, but incisors. Elephant teeth include 12 molars, 12 premolars and two tusks. This dentition is due to the animal’s herbivorous diet.

The outermost layer of elephant tusks is made of enamel, the hardest substance in the human body. Beneath the enamel is dentin, then cementum, which holds the ivory in place. At the heart of ivory is the pulp, which is made up of nerve endings, connective tissue and blood vessels.

According to the San Diego Wildlife Federation Library, permanent ivory always appears on young elephants at the age of two to replace baby tusks that fall off about 12 months after birth. The tusks grow about seven inches each year, and because they are constantly growing, they can be used to determine an elephant’s age.

The tusks of Asian elephants are straighter and thinner than those of African elephants, reaching a length of more than six feet. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s longest tusk is over 11 feet taller than the tallest human ever.

What is the purpose of elephant tusks?

Although tusks are elephant teeth, they look like horns, and elephants know this, using them to protect themselves. Elephants are the largest land animals in the world and have no natural enemies except humans. During periods of elevated testosterone, fights sometimes break out between adult males to assert dominance and prevent competition for viable females. Bulls of similar size will jostle and drive each other in this feud, which can sometimes be fatal.

Elephants, however, do not consider humans threatening and are not known to attack humans with their huge tusks. Other uses of ivory for elephants are as follows:

• protect and rest their trunks
• digging for salt, rock and water underground
• Bark trees such as baobabs.
• moving branches
• lifting objects

What elephant has no teeth?

Some African bull elephants and bull statues are born with tusks. However, the number of toothless females on the continent has increased over the years. In Asia, all female elephant elephants are tuskless, while a high proportion of male elephant elephants have tusks.

Why do some elephants have no tusks?

Due to heavy poaching in Mozambique, the number of elephants in Gorongosa National Park has declined by 90%, according to a study. As elephant populations began to recover, many female elephants were observed to be born without tusks. This is thought to be a genetic mutation triggered as a response to poaching, allowing more female elephants to survive the tuskless genetic trait.

According to the BBC, the mutation is linked to sex. That’s why there are always some tuskless elephants in a herd. Mothers never need tusks. However, toothless can be quite dangerous to males as they often use these front teeth for protection. It is believed that male offspring with these genes will not survive in utero. Therefore, there are no tuskless African male elephants.

Additionally, as poaching of large tusk elephants increases, so does the birth of more tuskless elephants, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. This means that these elephants with large tusks cannot pass their genes on to the next generation, which will have a detrimental effect on the elephant population.

Asian images are similarly affected. Fewer than 10 percent of Sri Lankan male elephants have tusks, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and the Institute of Conservation Biology. However, the figure is higher in India, where up to 90 percent of Indian elephant elephants have tusks. In Asia, tuskless male elephants are called “makhnas”.

Mini Tushes: What Are Tushes?

Tusks are smaller ivory-like teeth commonly found in Asian statues, reported to be present in about 50% of Asian statues. Tushes are brittle and consist of a different composition than ivory. These smaller tusks typically reach a maximum length of two inches, while tusks can reach lengths of over nine feet.

Tushes have been known to regrow if the roots are not damaged. However, the growth is often negligible.

Do elephants grow tusks?

Elephants and rhinos are two of the strongest land animals, but both are poached for their “horns.” However, while rhino horns may regrow after damage, elephant tusks do not, according to Scientific Reports. That’s because rhino horn has the same composition as human hair and nails: keratin. Hair and nails are similar in that they both grow back after being cut.

The tusks, on the other hand, do not grow back after being removed because they are embedded within the elephant’s skull and have a nerve running down the middle. After cutting the ivory and exposing these nerve endings, they can become infected and be fatal to the animal. Therefore, the only viable way to obtain ivory from elephants is to kill them or remove them from dead elephants. Elephant tusks grow throughout their life, but stop growing if damaged.

Next:

Does the female statue have ivory?

What is the largest elephant in the world?

Ivory: What Are They Made Of? What are they for?

Mammoth vs Elephant: What’s the Difference?

Do elephants have teeth?their dentition and tusks explained