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Narwhal
Images coming soon.
- Length
- 12 feet.
- Description
- Head short and rounded, flippers short and broad no fin on the back. Colour dark gray above, white below, sides and back with darker spots. No teeth in the lower jaw and but one above--a long horizontal twisted tusk, 5 to 6 feet in length. (A short rudimentary tusk is imbedded in the skull on the opposite side.)
- Range
- Arctic seas, accidental farther south.
This curious "sea unicorn" is another inhabitant of the far north, and its immense tusk plays an important part in the weapons and tools of the Eskimo. This tusk is really one of the front teeth, and while it appears to protrude from the middle line of the head, an examination of the skull will show that it belongs wholly to one side, which is greatly developed at the expense of the corresponding portion of the other side. A second rudimentary tusk will also be found imbedded in the bone of the skull.