Living and Extinct Animals with Tusks
Wild Hog (Sus scrofa)
I think this is one of the oddest-looking animals I’d ever seen. This unusual-looking animal called Wild Hog or Wild
Boar is the ancestor of domestic pig. It is endemic to Europe and Asia.
Buru Babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa)
This pig-like animal is the Buru Babirusa. It is endemic to Buru and Sula Islands in Indonesia. Buru Babirusa has
relatively long, thick body-hair - a feature not shared by the other extant babirusas. It is also known as the
Golden Babirusa or Hairy Babirusa.
Giant Forest Hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni)
The Giant Forest Hog of Central Africa is the largest wild pig that can reach as much as 2 meters in length and
1.1 meters high at the shoulder and have been known to weigh as much as 600 pounds or 273 kg. This creature
has extensive hairs on its body and has large and pointy ears. Its tusks are much smaller than those of the
Warthog but bigger than that of the Bushpig.
North Sulawesi Babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis)
This threatened pig-like creature which is endemic to northern Sulawesi has 2 pairs of large tusks. North Sulawesi
Babirusa, as it is commonly called, has canines in the maxilla that penetrate the top of the snout, curving back
toward the forehead.
Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus)
The odd-looking Warthog is a wild pig that lives in Africa. The name originated from the four large wart-like
protrusions found on the head of the warthog, which serve the purpose of defense when males fight.
Wild Warthogs can live up to 15 years, and captive Warthogs may live as long as 18 years.
Musk Deer
Musk Deer of southern Asia are more primitive than the cervids, or true deer, in not having antlers or facial
glands, in having only a single pair of teats, and in possessing a gall bladder, a caudal gland, a pair of tusk-like
teeth and—of particular economic importance to humans—a musk gland.
Musk Deer resemble small deer with a stocky build, and hind legs longer than their front legs. They are
approximately 80-100 cm in length, 50-70 cm tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 7 and 17 kg.
Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis)
Instead of having antlers, the Water Deer of China and Korea have tusks. This unique characteristic had caused
it to be classified in its own genus Hydropotes. This creature had developed long canine teeth which protrude
from the upper jaw like the canines of Musk Deer.
Micromeryx
Another animal that is somewhat similar to Water Deer is the Micromeryx. It is an extinct genus of moschid that
has tusks.
Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)
This unique mammal called Walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family. This creature is easily
recognizable by its prominent tusks, whiskers and great bulk. It could reach 4,500 pounds or 2,000 kg. Walrus is a
relatively long-lived, social animal and is considered a keystone species in Arctic marine ecosystems.
Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)
The distinct Narwhal is known by a characteristic long, straight and helical tusk extending from its upper left jaw. A
Narwhal is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives year-round in the Arctic. This creature is a uniquely
specialized Arctic predator. Inuit people in Northern Canada and Greenland have been harvesting these animals
for thousands of years for meat and ivory. A regulated subsistence hunt continues to this day.
African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Undoubtedly, the elephant is the largest living animal with tusks. African Bush Elephant which is also known as the
Bush Elephant or Savanna Elephant is the largest living land-dwelling animal, reaching up to 7.3 meters or 24
feet in length and 3.5 meters or 11.5 feet in height at the shoulder. This huge fauna of Africa can weigh as much
as 9,000 kg or 19,843 lb.
African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
Another huge animal with tusks is the African Forest Elephant.
Asian or Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus)
The Asian or Asiatic Elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia. This endangered species can be found in
Thailand, Borneo, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indochina and India. Like African elephant, only males have tusks.
Wooly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)
I wish I had seen the Woolly Mammoth. This extinct species is known from bones and frozen carcasses from
northern North America and northern Eurasia. This mammoth species is believed to have live 150,000 years ago
and disappeared from most of its range 10,000 years ago. Woolly mammoths had extremely long tusks — up to
5 m or 16 ft long. This huge animal is also called the Tundra Mammoth.
Mastodon
A Mastodon or Mastodont was an extinct animal that resembles Woolly Mammoth. This animal was a browser with
tusks as long as 5 meters in length and was nearly horizontal, in contrast with the more curved Mammoth Tusks.
American Mastodon (Mammut americanum)
The American Mastodon is believed to have lived from about 3.7 million years ago until it became extinct about
10,000 years B.C. Fossils of this animal were found in Alaska, Florida and as far as Honduras. It looks like a
Woolly Mammoth with a thick coat of shaggy hair that has sometimes survived along with the skeletons. It was
about 3 meters or 9.8 ft in height, and had large tusks that curved upwards.
Songhua River Mammoth (Mammuthus sungari)
The specimens of Songhua River Mammoth indicate that it is the largest mammoth species found. It lived about
280,000 years ago. It was 9.1 meters or 30 ft long, 5.3 meters or 17 ft tall, and has an estimated weight of
10 tonnes (11 short tons).
Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)
Another extinct species of mammoth is the Columbian Mammoth of North America. Columbian Mammoths went
extinct approximately 12,500 years ago. It was one of the largest of the mammoth species and also one of the
largest elephants to have ever lived, measuring 4 meters or 13 ft tall and weighing up to 10 metric tons (11 short
tons). The tusks of male Columbian mammoth extended to 6.5 feet or 2.0 meters. A pair of Columbian Mammoth
tusks discovered in central Texas was the largest ever found for any elephant: 16 feet or 4.9 m long.
Steppe Mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii)
The Steppe Mammoth of Eurasia is an extinct species believed to have existed 600,000-370,000 years ago. It
Stand up to 4.70 meters or 15 ft tall at the shoulder and is among the largest probiscideans to have ever lived. Its
spiral-shaped tusks could be as long as 5.2 meters or 17 ft in old bulls.
Straight-tusked Elephant (Elephas Palaeoloxodon)
This animal is closely related to the living Asian Elephant - Straight-tusked Elephant, an extinct species of
elephant that inhabited Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (781,000–11,550 years before present).
The creature was 3.90 m (12 ft) tall and had long, slightly upward-curving tusks.
Imperial Mammoth (Mammuthus imperator)
The last but certainly not the least is the Imperial Mammoth of North America. This extinct animal was the second-
largest known species of mammoth after the Songhua River Mammoth. It is the largest, most powerful mammoth
on the Western Hemisphere reaching a height of 4.9 m or 16 ft at the shoulder.
Hope you enjoyed this. Thank you!
See also
Amazingly Unique Pets, Insects and Other Animals
Fantastic and Unique Shapes of Spiders
Content Source: Living and Extinct Animals with Tusks - Bukisa.com
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