Tusk

Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species.

Tusks share common features such as extra-oral position, growth pattern, composition and structure, and lack of contribution to ingestion.

Continuous growth of tusks is enabled by formative tissues in the apical openings of the roots of the teeth.

While tuskers are rare today, it is thought that they were more common in the past, prior to human impact on elephant populations.

The two record holders for longest and heaviest recorded African bush elephant tusks are around 3.49 metres (11.5 ft) long measured along the outside curve, and 107 kilograms (236 lb) in weight respectively, while the longest and heaviest Asian elephant tusks are 3.26 metres (10.7 ft) long and 73 kilograms (161 lb) respectively.