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Elephant and mammoth ivory comes from the two modified upper incisors. Tusks of some male African elephants can grow up to 2 meters (6 ½ feet) and weigh up to 45 kilograms (100 pounds). The tusks have a pulp cavity where the root and soft tissues attach to the jaw and that extends for approximately one-third of the tusk.
The African bush elephant is listed as Endangered and the African forest elephant as Critically Endangered on the respective IUCN Red Lists. [ 57 ] [ 58 ] Based on vegetation types that provide suitable habitat for African elephants, it was estimated that in the early 19th century a maximum of 26,913,000 African elephants might have been ...
An African elephant’s trunk is very different from an Asian elephant’s trunk. The African elephant’s trunk has two distinct lips that are used for grabbing and holding things, while an Asian ...
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.
In these areas, elephant tusks and other forms of ivory were traded for exotic novelties such as silk, copper ornaments, damascened swords, pots, and pans. [2] Additionally, during this period, overseas contracts were established in eastern Africa to furthering the trade of African ivory. [6] African Savannah Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
The African forest elephant's tusks are straight and point downwards, [4] and are present in both males and females. [13] The African forest elephant has pink tusks, which are thinner and harder than the tusks of the African bush elephant. The length and diameter vary between individuals. [12]
The upper tusks of primitive longirostrine gomphotheres typically gently curve downwards, [3] and generally do not exceed 2 metres (6.6 ft) in length and 35 kilograms (77 lb) in weight, [7] though some later brevirostine gomphotheres developed considerably larger upper tusks.
Ivory trade in Ghana, 1690. Elephant ivory has been exported from Africa and Asia for millennia with records going back to the 14th century BCE.Transport of the heavy commodity was always difficult, and with the establishment of the early-modern slave trades from East and West Africa, freshly captured slaves were used to carry the heavy tusks to the ports where both the tusks and their ...