Can You Describe The Teeth And Tusks Of The Elephant?

Strangely, only one tooth on each side of each jaw—a total of four—is in use at any one time. They may weigh eight or nine pounds (4 kilos) apiece and be at least a foot (30 centimeters) long. In a lifetime, six sets of these giant molars are used up, in addition to the first milk teeth.

As if on a conveyor belt, the huge grinders move into position, the new tooth pushing out the worn stump. The last set comes in when elephants are about forty years old. When these finally wear down, the great creature loses his chewing power and eventually dies, apparently from a form of malnutrition, at sixty or seventy years of age.

However, elephants are most noted for their other, far more visible, "teeth." You might say that they have the world's most extreme case of protruding teeth, since their great tusks are actually the upper front incisors. They are the longest and heaviest teeth of any living animal. Since they continue to grow all through the elephant's life, it has been estimated that their length could reach as much as sixteen feet (5 meters) in the female and twenty feet (6 meters) in the male.

But these protruding "teeth" take quite a pounding as they dig up soil in quest of salt or food and water, lift heavy weights, or are used to fight for the attention of a comely cow. Invariably, one tusk bears the marks of more wear and may even be shorter due to chipping and breaking.