Talk:Tusk

Question

anonymous question in the article, referring to the intro sentence:

[Could this explain what it is about some teeth the gets them classified as "tusks" while some other teeth are not so classified?]

Current event?

What is the current event that relates to tusks? -Harmil 21:47, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Uses

I'd like to see discussion of how animals use their tusks. AThousandYoung (talk) 21:21, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Rewrite

There was an absurd assertion on this page that walruses and warthogs don't "really" have tusks because they are canines rather than incisors. I quote:

Tusk-bearing mammals in a strict sense are only elephants, as they are the only animals whose protruding teeth are incisors. The "tusks" of other animals such as warthogs, wild boar, and walruses are enlarged, tusk-like canine teeth.

This isn't supported by anything I have ever seen, by anything resembling common or biological uses of the world, or even by the existence of narwhals, whose tusks are also incisors. I rewrote the page accordingly, touching on some uses as well. It is not particularly well-referenced, but the term is a generic one and it is difficult to generalize. But for the record, walruses most certainly DO have tusks. Best, Eliezg (talk) 17:43, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Translation into Chinese Wikipedia

The section "Uses" of the 21:06, 23 January 2009 Eliezg version is translated into Chinese Wikipedia.--Wing (talk) 20:20, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

Tusks and gums

I would like to know whether an elephant's tusks are lodged in its gums like its other teeth, or not. Could anyone please elaborate?

tusks / fangs

Could someone make the difference really clear? Are they tusks if they protude out of the mouth, and fangs if they don't? Does it matter if they are upper or lower teeth?85.157.155.247 (talk) 21:22, 28 July 2012 (UTC)

maturity

I would like to see a section added to the page or at least a mention as to how tusks relate to the sexual maturity of some animals such as dugongs.

dominance

The article mentions how some species use tusks as a display of dominance, but I would like some elaboration as to how they are used to display dominance? is it just size of tusks or do certain species fight one another?

evolution

This article needs to have a section added as to how tusks arose through evolution and how the tusks gave species a big enough reproductive advantage to e passed down through the generations.

Hughes.1332 (talk) 17:51, 30 September 2014 (UTC)hughes.1332

Sale of ivory after preventive tusk removal

Preventive tusk removal by park rangers has not been mentioned in this page. This seems a useful technique to discourage poachers and maintain the species and still be able to still sell the natural material.

The question is: what is the best approach then ? Sell those removed tusks instead of destroying them ? Or destroy them (which results in increased prices of ivory on the black market) (see destruction of ivory) ? I seem to think the best approach is to have the wildlife parks sell it, under a CITES certification, to bring in revenue for the wildlife park and help pay park ranger wages (resulting in better protection of the wildlife park).

Perhaps this can be mentioned somehow in the article ? --Genetics4good (talk) 12:15, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: EEB388 Diversity of Mammals

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 6 January 2026 and 19 April 2026. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Ave0302, Natalie9912, MangoBreeze, Pamelakernohan (article contribs). Peer reviewers: BananaBeluga, Nousersleft, Maxs-Blogo-Saurus, Bn616, Chloe Yu Gao, Carnar39, Vitaminboo.

— Assignment last updated by Ashinonyx (talk) 22:22, 12 May 2026 (UTC)