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An African elephant in Tanzania, with visible tusks. Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, muntjac, pigs, peccaries, hippopotamuses and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors.
Horns are projections from the top of the head. True horns are found mainly among: Ruminant artiodactyls. Antilocapridae (); Bovidae (cattle, goats, antelopes etc.).; Giraffidae: Giraffids have a pair of skin covered bony bumps on their heads, called ossicones.
In the holotype of O. peruvianus the elongated right tusk is broken, leaving its precise length ambiguous. O. leptodon on the other hand preserves complete tusks, showing that at least in this species the longer tusk reached a total length of 1.35 metres (4 ft 5 in) long, 1.07 metres (3 ft 6 in) of which is located outside of the alveolar sheath.
Elephantiformes is a suborder within the order Proboscidea. [1] Members of this group are primitively characterised by the possession of upper tusks, an elongated mandibular symphysis (the frontmost part of the lower jaw) and lower tusks, and the retraction of the facial region of the skull indicative of the development of a trunk. [2]
Their heads of elongated and downward-sloping. [5]: 181 As with many members of the genus Sus, the pigs' straight lower canines are triangular in cross-section. The canines curve upwards and compromise the male pigs' tusks. In fact, the lower surface of Philippine warty pigs' canines is typically 150% greater in diameter than the posterior surface.
Although Java mouse-deer do not possess antlers or horns like regular deer, male Java mouse-deer have elongated, tusk-like upper canines which protrude downward from the upper jaw along the sides of their mouth. Males use these “tusks” to defend themselves and their mates against rivals. [9]
The skull was prominently domed, though the height of the dome was lower than later mammoth species. The head represented the highest point of the animal. The body was broad and the back was noticeably sloped. It had robust, elongated twisted tusks, common of mammoths. [8]
Walruses and elephants, non-ungulates, both possess elongated tusks. Apart from mammals, the only other group of land vertebrates that shows widespread adoption of weapons are the chameleons, who possess horn-like structures for fighting over access to mates. [5]