EventResearchers from Denmark, Greenland and Sweden used advanced CT‑like imaging to show that the outer cementum layer twists right‑handed and the inner dentine left‑twisted, balancing forces and keeping the three‑metre tooth straight. The finding highlights the narwhal's unique anatomy and offers insight into bone‑growth mechanisms.
Researchers have discovered new details about narwhals’ uniquely straight, left‑twisting tusks, underscoring the species’ distinctive anatomy among Arctic marine mammals.
Scientists revealed that the narwhal's straight tusk grows because two opposing spiral layers counterbalance each other, a finding published in Nature Communications that may help illuminate similar growth mechanisms in human bone and offer fresh insight into Arctic marine mammal biology.
The study reveals male narwhal tusks have two opposing spiral layers—left‑handed on the outer cementum and right‑handed inside dentine—that balance each other, enabling the three‑metre tusk to remain straight. International researchers used CT‑like imaging, and the discovery could inform human bone research while underscoring Inuit expertise in Arctic studies.
