Monodon monoceros are a mighty impressive brute to face at - that incredible ivory could certainly do more than just poke your eye out . But what is its use ? Researchers have long pondered this , with numerous melodic theme surfacing . It has been suggest to act as a swimming rudder , thermic regulator , a tool for breaking ice , a weapon , a breathing organ , and a hunting tool , amongst other thing . That ’s quite an impressive list . But in a field published in the journalAnatomical Record , scientist have break that it actually supply a sensorial role .
narwal , or narwhales , are toothed - whale in the same kinfolk as the beluga whale . They can be accredit by their characteristic tenacious voluted tusk , which is in reality an elongated tooth . They are found in very frigid locations ; predominantly the Canadian Arctic and Greenlandic waters . surprisingly , these tusks have been recorded to be as long as 3 meter , but they are hollow and therefore not particularly profound . Some male even have two tusks , whereas only a small percentage of female display a ivory at all . This has led to the impression that it may act as a sexual characteristic .
Dr Martin Nweeia and his team started by examine the ivory itself , and they discover that the outer layer of the tusk is in fact porous . The tusk has tubes which connect to and communicate with open channel through these pores . This allow the centre of the ivory , the pulp , to respond to external stimuli with nerve ending which channel information to the brain . The creature can sense chemical and temperature change in the ocean environment through its tusk . Next , the team inquire the physiological response of the narwhal project to change in environmental input . They found that the heart charge per unit of the narwhal importantly change when the tusk was exposed to result of alternating salt concentrations .
It is thought that this sensorial ability may provide a mechanism whereby Male can seek out females to reproduce with , and detect whether they are indeed ready for sexual union . Of course , it is difficult to rule out other suggestions for the role this tusk may represent ; the most likely scenario is that it has more than one purpose . What still remain unclear , however , is whether these sensorial abilities have been evolve in the tusk over metre , or whether they are really slowly losing the ability to feel with their tusks .
Dr. Nweeia is now mean to attain information through observational study of these animals in the wilderness , in the Bob Hope that it may shed more Light Within on the part these impressive ivory recreate .
