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Animal profile
Monodon monoceros
The narwhal is a mid-sized Arctic toothed whale with a mottled grey body, no dorsal fin and, in most males, a long straight tusk. It winters in deep offshore water under heavy ice, diving beyond a kilometre for Greenland halibut and squid. It is closely related to the beluga, with which it shares the family Monodontidae.
It is an elongated left canine that spirals counterclockwise and grows through the upper lip. Unlike ordinary teeth it has a porous outer surface with nerve pathways reaching the pulp, so a hard tissue built to be insensitive is instead richly innervated.
The tusk is not a horn but the animal's upper left canine, erupting through the lip and growing forward for up to three metres. Its spiral always turns the same way, and the tooth is porous, with nerve tissue reaching the surface.