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Narwhal

Monodon monoceros · medium

The narwhal's tusk is a tooth. Specifically it is the left canine of the upper jaw, which in males grows forward through the lip in a left-handed spiral and can reach three metres. For centuries the tusks were traded in Europe as unicorn horn, and sold for many times their weight in gold to buyers who believed they neutralised poison.

What the tusk is for has taken much longer to settle. Its surface is porous and richly innervated, with millions of nerve endings running to the core, so it functions in part as a sensory organ — narwhals appear able to detect changes in salinity and possibly the presence of prey through it. Males also cross and rub tusks in a behaviour that may assess rivals or clean the surface, and tusks have been filmed used to stun fish.

Narwhals live in the high Atlantic Arctic and are unusually specialised even by Arctic standards. They dive to considerable depths for Greenland halibut, and they winter under dense pack ice, relying on shifting leads and cracks to breathe. That dependence makes them among the cetaceans most exposed to changes in sea ice, along with increased shipping noise in previously silent waters.

Where it lives

Worml lists the narwhal as native to 4 countries — Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. Its habitat is arctic fjords, deep bays and pack ice.

Ranges here are reduced to whole countries for playability and exclude introduced populations — see about the data for what that simplification leaves out.

In the game

Narwhal is rated medium. To solve the round you need to find any 2 of its 4 listed countries. How scoring works →

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