Sea animal with a tusk. Narwhal
Unicorns are not fairy creatures, this is reality.
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Narwhals - mammals of the unicorn family, the only species of the narwhal genus - were called unicorns.
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Narwhals are very beautiful and powerful animals. Adult males reach a length of 3.5-4.5 m and weigh about 1.5 tons. Females fewer males: their length is about 3 m, weight - 900 kg. A third of their mass is subcutaneous fat.
These animals live in the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic. Schools of narwhals are found in the Canadian archipelago, on the shores of Greenland, in the waters of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, and in winter they can be found in the waters White Sea, off the Murmansk coast and off the island. Bering.
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Narwhals commit seasonal migrations: in summer – in a northerly direction, in winter – in a southerly direction. In winter, if the ice hole freezes, they break the ice with their backs.
Baby narwhals - suckers - are very similar to beluga whales and have light skin; adults are covered with light skin with gray-brown spots.
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Did you know that the tusk (horn) of a narwhal is a tooth? A narwhal has a total of 2 upper teeth. In females they are practically not developed, but in males a tusk up to 2-3 m long and weighing up to 10 kg develops from the left tooth. The horn twists in a left-handed spiral. He is very beautiful, just like a fairy-tale unicorn. But the right tooth rarely develops, about one case out of 500. Broken off tusks do not grow back. They are very durable and flexible.
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Narwhals feed on crustaceans and fish - cod, stingrays, halibut, flounder, and gobies. In search of food, they can dive to a depth of 1 km, and use their horns to scare fish from the bottom.
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There are several points of view regarding the purpose of the narwhal tusk. Only one thing is known - the tusk does not serve as an attack weapon. Some scientists believe that the horn is necessary for males to attract females. Others have a different point of view. So research group Martina Nviiya suggested that the narwhal's tusk is a sensitive organ. Such conclusions were made after studying it. Millions of tiny tubes with nerve endings were found in the horn. It is believed that the tusk is necessary for the narwhal to measure temperature, pressure and the concentration of suspended particles in the water.
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The main enemies of the narwhal are polar bears and killer whales, which love to feast on them. tender meat. Suckers are also dangerous polar sharks. And, of course, a person, where would we be without him.
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Most often, narwhals live in small flocks of 6-10 individuals. They are very sociable and don't mind chatting. They communicate using sharp sounds, groans, creaks, clicks or gurgles.
In the wild, narwhals can live up to 55 years, but in captivity they die after 3-4 months.
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Narwhals breed in the spring. The gestation period is more than a year– 14-15 months. A female can bear only 1 cub, very rarely - 2.
Northern peoples eat narwhal meat, its fat is used as oil for lamps, and strong ropes are obtained from its intestines. The tusk is used to make various crafts and souvenirs. This brings additional income to small northern peoples.
There are no exact data on their numbers; it is assumed that there are about 40-50 thousand animals. It is not enough. Therefore, some governments northern countries restrictive measures were introduced for their fishing. Narwhals are a protected species and are listed in the Red Book of Russia.
The chain of areas of non-freezing water, uniting permanent polynyas, is called the Arctic ring of life. It is here, and not at all to the tropics, that guillemots, guillemots, many gulls and other sea gulls flock for the winter. arctic birds. Seals and seals, polar bears stay here all winter, and arctic foxes also come here from the mainland. These polynyas are the ancestral patrimony of our northern amazing whale - narwhal, or unicorn .
Dimensions. The largest male narwhals are just over 6 meters and weigh approximately a ton. Females are smaller - up to 5 m. There are small eyes on the sides of the round forehead of the head. The narwhal does not have the usual dolphin "beak". The mouth is small, located below the head, covered by a short wedge-shaped lower jaw with a fleshy lip; upper lip protrudes forward beyond the lower one and in males is pierced by a tusk. On the back, instead of a fin, like a beluga whale, there is a longitudinal and narrow leathery fold up to 5 cm high and 75 cm long.
Color. The color of adults is white below, spotted above; dark spots on a light background are denser in the anterior part of the body, especially on the head, sometimes almost black, and also on the edge of the caudal peduncle. Females have slightly smaller spots than males. The lightest are the oldest individuals. The suckers are plain dark gray.
Narwhals belong to the dolphin family, a suborder of toothed whales. But narwhals are toothless creatures. The lower jaw has no teeth at all. The upper one has only two rudiments. In the female they never erupt. With age, the length index of the pectoral fins, like the number of phalanges in the fingers, decreases. The narwhal's skull is flattened, asymmetrical (more so in males than in females), with a wide rostrum.
Suckers can have up to 4 pairs of upper teeth, but 3 pairs soon fall out, and from the fourth pair, males develop a tusk 2-3 m long, 7-10 cm thick and weighing almost 16 kg. Only extremely rarely do both teeth develop into tusks; just as rarely in males the left fang does not turn into a tusk and remains as small as the right one. Spiral flow (cutting) on the surface of the tusk, which increases its strength, is formed over a long time: during the operation of the tail blades and the forward movement of the animal, the tusk, resisting the water, very slowly rotates around its axis, and the uneven walls of the hole cut spiral patterns on the surface of the growing tusk grooves. A narrow dental canal passes through the entire shaft, which ends where the smooth tip begins, representing the remnant of the tooth that lay in the hole before cutting. If the tusk breaks, the pulp in the tooth canal forms a bone plug. Breakdowns often occur, since the main function of the tusk is to break holes in the ice (during frontal impacts).
Some polar explorers believe that tusks are necessary for males during mating tournaments. Indeed, observing the behavior of narwhals in breeding waters, scientists noticed that the animals often crossed their weapons. However, no one saw it come to serious brawls.
It is believed that tusks help whales during hunting. A school of males surrounds a school of cod or haddock in a large arc. But when the climax of the hunt comes, the peaks are not used. At shallow depths in clear ocean water, we were able to observe how narwhals used their tusks to scare bottom-dwelling fish from the ground. It is possible that fish lying on the bottom are difficult for animals to notice and awkward to grab. However, this is unlikely to be of significant importance. Otherwise, nature would not deprive the females, who especially need to have plenty of food and be well nourished in order to feed their young.
A fast-swimming herd of narwhals looks spectacular. The animals stay close together and perform all maneuvers synchronously. Males look no less impressive when they rest calmly on the surface of the sea. Their long tusks are directed forward, sometimes upward and seem to be directed towards the sky.
Spreading. Narwhals are typical inhabitants of the Arctic. The range includes the Arctic Ocean with all its seas, the waters of the Canadian Archipelago, Greenland (Davis Strait, Hudson and Baffin Bays to Smith Strait), Spitsbergen, Dixon Island, Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island. More often found near Greenland and the northern parts of the Canadian archipelago, and in our country - northeast of Franz Josef Land and north of Spitsbergen; very rare between the mouth of the river. Kolyma and Cape Barrow, which is likely due to the rarity of cephalopods (its food) in the area.
Floating stations " North Pole» 2, 4 and 5 observed narwhal in June, July and August north of Wrangel Island, De Long Islands and between Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya.
The most northern occurrences were noted at 85° N. sh., and the most southern (all in winter) - off the Murmansk coast, Mezen Bay, in the White Sea, at the mouth of the Pechora, in the Bering Strait, off St. Lawrence Island, in the Gulf of Port Moller (Alaska Peninsula) and even off Bering Island. In the waters Western Europe visits are noted even further south - to Great Britain and Holland.
Eating They are mainly cephalopods, but do not disdain fish (rays, flounder, halibut, cod, salmon, herring), eating mainly bottom-dwelling slow-moving representatives of the ichthyofauna. Apparently, they are easier to catch with the narwhal's toothless mouth. In search of food, they dive almost half a kilometer and remain under water for a long time. In search of food, they sometimes come close to the shores (the straits of the Franz Josef Archipelago, the Eclipse Strait, etc.).
Behavior. Previously, the herds were larger (up to several thousand heads), but currently they do not exceed hundreds of heads. Beluga whales often join narwhal herds. In places where these cetaceans gather, large flocks of birds (fullmars, guillemots, gulls, skuas) are observed, possibly attracted by the common food.
Frosts are not scary for narwhals. If the sea is covered fresh ice, most large male pierces it with his powerful tusk and back. A small hole is formed, which, if the frost is not severe, the narwhals manage to keep free of ice for a long time. In severe frosts, the entire herd gathers at one outlet. They sometimes spend several months at such outlets. And this is not an emergency situation. Living in such winter apartments is not uncommon.
Narwhals stay underwater for quite a long time. During this time, several kilometers pass, searching huge area, and find enough food for themselves. In winter, like most cetaceans, narwhals apparently do not feed at all.
However, wintering in the Arctic does not always go well. When significant ice movements occur, the leads often close, and separate groups narwhals find themselves trapped in small holes. The water in them seems to be boiling with animals trying to break to the surface for a breath of air. It is possible that many narwhals die under such conditions.
Sometimes a polar bear comes to small openings where narwhals gather. Without thinking, he jumps on the unicorn's back, kills it and drags it onto the ice. It happens that the polar wanderer is not limited to a single victim. Hiding near the ice hole, the predator kills with a strong blow of its paw and drags out onto the ice one after another the narwhals when the whales emerge to breathe. One day, polar explorers discovered a bear's nest, near which there were 21 narwhal carcasses neatly stacked. This supply could be enough for a clubfoot hunter to last more than one winter. Usually polar bear, if he is not very hungry, he eats only the entrails and fat of the narwhal, and almost does not touch the rest. Only a mother bear and her cubs, who have recently left their den, find a taste for dolphin meat.
The only species of the narwhal genus.
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Monodontidae: Beluga whale, Narwhal / Narwhals: Beluga whale, Narwhal
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Appearance
The body length of an adult narwhal is 3.8-4.5 m, newborns are about 1.5 m. The weight of males reaches 1.5 tons, of which about a third of the weight is fat; females weigh about 900 kg. The head is round, with an overhanging frontal tubercle; dorsal fin No. The mouth is small, located below. The size and shape of the body, pectoral fins and dark color Sucker narwhals are similar to beluga whales, however, adults are distinguished by their spotting - grayish-brown spots on a light background, which sometimes merge - and the presence of only 2 upper teeth. Of these, the left one develops in males into a tusk up to 2-3 m long and weighing up to 10 kg, twisted in a left-hand spiral, while the right one usually does not erupt. The right tusk in males and both tusks in females are hidden in the gums and develop rarely, in about one case out of 500. Broken off tusks do not grow back, but the dental canal of such a tusk is closed with a bone filling. Narwhal tusks are characterized by high strength and flexibility; their ends can be bent, at least, 31 cm in any direction without breaking.
Lifestyle and nutrition
Narwhals live in cold waters along the edge of the Arctic ice, making seasonal migrations depending on the movement of floating ice - for the winter in south direction, and in the summer - in the north. Beyond polar waters, below 70° N. sh., they come out rarely and only in winter time. Unlike beluga whales, narwhals stay in deep waters while flying. In winter they live in clearings among the ice; if the ice holes freeze, the males from below break the ice (up to 5 cm thick), striking with their backs and tusks.
Social structure and reproduction
Narwhals live alone or in small groups, usually of 6-10 heads, which consist of adult males or females with cubs; Previously they formed large aggregations of several hundred and thousands of heads. In a herd, like beluga whales, narwhals are very talkative. Most often they produce sharp sounds reminiscent of a whistle; They also make moans (or sighs), moos, clicks, squeaks, and gurgles.
Peak mating occurs in spring. Pregnancy lasts 14-15 months, full cycle reproduction spans 2-3 years. 1, very rarely 2 cubs are born. Puberty in males it occurs at a body length of 4 m, in females - 3.4 m, which corresponds to 4-7 years. Life expectancy in nature is up to 55 years; in captivity - up to 4 months. There are no known cases of breeding in captivity.
Economic importance
Narwhal meat is consumed by northern peoples, in particular the Eskimos; narwhal fat is used as oil for lamps, and intestines are used to make ropes; The tusks from which crafts are carved are especially valued. The skin of narwhals contains a lot of vitamin C. Since the summer of 1976, the Canadian government has introduced restrictive measures for the fishery: it has banned the slaughter of females accompanied by cubs, it has required the complete disposal of hunted animals and introduced an annual quota for production in the main hunting areas.
There are no exact data on the number.
The narwhal has a body length of up to 4.5 meters and weighs 1.5 tons, and females weigh slightly less, about 900 kg. The dorsal fin is missing. The head has a round shape with a frontal overhanging tubercle. The mouth is small and located below. By appearance and the size of the narwhal is very similar to the beluga whale, but adult individuals have grayish-brown spots on a light body that can merge.
Narwhals are true northerners. These animals are indigenous to the Arctic and northern latitudes of the Atlantic Ocean. Their fat mass is 30% of their body weight, so they are not afraid of any frost. They follow floating ice: in winter to the south, and in summer to the north. They live among the ice, breaking holes in ice up to 5 cm thick. Although sometimes they still leave the polar waters, but only in winter.
The narwhal owes its high popularity to its horn. In the Middle Ages it was often presented as a unicorn horn, possessing magical properties. The narwhal tusk was the main "fake" unicorn horn. It was believed that he could help identify poisoned wine and put a doomed patient back on his feet.
But in reality, of course, this is not the case. The narwhal's horn is actually the upper left tooth of the male, which grows into a tusk up to 2-3 meters.
The remaining teeth of the narwhal do not develop, and erupt in one case out of 500. This tusk is very strong and quite flexible. It can bend in any direction up to a third of a meter without breaking. If it breaks, it will not grow back, and the broken place will be filled with a bone filling.
The narwhal's tusk does not serve as an offensive weapon and it does not break ice with it. Inside the tusk there are many nerve endings that help the animal determine water temperature, pressure, etc. It is also known that sometimes the narwhal makes its tusk float up. bottom fish, which are his delicacy: stingrays, cod, halibuts, etc. For them he can dive to a depth of 1 km.
The diet of narwhals consists of fish and cephalopods. Narwhals do not attack other animals, although there are known cases of wounding whales, but apparently these are accidental collisions. But the narwhal itself is often the target of attack by other animals. Walruses and polar bears attack mature individuals, and polar sharks attack cubs.
Narwhals stay solitary, sometimes gathering in small groups up to 10 individuals. In such a herd, narwhals become very “talkative”, producing sounds reminiscent of whistles, clicks, sighs, creaks and gurgles.
Narwhal is:- Kingdom - Animals
- Type - Chordata
- Subphylum - Vertebrates
- Class - Mammals
- Order - Cetaceans
- Family - Unicorns
- Species - Narwhal
Narwhal (unicorn) is a mammal that belongs to the unicorn family and is the only kind kind of narwhals.
An adult narwhal has a body length of approximately 3.5 to 4.5 meters, while a newly born one is about 1.5 meters. Weight can reach 1.5 tons, and females weigh slightly less, about 900 kg, with approximately a third of the weight being fat. The dorsal fin is missing. The head has a round shape, and a frontal tubercle that hangs over it. The narwhal's mouth is small and located at the bottom. In appearance and size, the narwhal is very similar to the beluga whale, but adult individuals have grayish-brown spots on a light body that can merge, and the narwhal also has only 2 teeth on top. The narwhal's horn develops from the left tooth and reaches a length of up to 2-3 meters, weighs up to 10 kg, and is twisted in a left-hand spiral. The right tooth in males and both teeth in females, as a rule, do not erupt and are hidden in the gums. There are cases, approximately 1 in 500, exceptions to the rules. If the tusk is broken, it does not grow back, but the tooth canal, which turns out to be open in this case, is closed with a bone filling. The narwhal's tusk is very elastic and durable; its end can bend up to 31 cm in any direction without damage.
To date, the exact purpose of the tusk has not been clarified. But it is known that it is not an attack weapon and does not serve to break through ice. However, it is believed that the tusk is a sensitive organ, and it is riddled with millions of small tubes with nerve endings, this was revealed under an electron microscope. It is also assumed that the narwhal uses its tusk to sense changes occurring in the water. And when narwhals cross their tusks, they apparently clean off growths from them.
The narwhal's habitat is the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic, that is, in the cold waters along the edge arctic ice. This is mainly the Canadian archipelago and the shores of Greenland, as well as the waters of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, the northern tip North Island New Earth. To the north, to 85 northern latitude, narwhals swim in warm time, and in winter they can swim south to Great Britain and the Netherlands, the Murmansk coast, the White Sea and Bering Island making seasonal migrations. IN summer time Narwhals stay at depth, unlike, for example, beluga whales. And in cold times they live among the ice, and if these gaps freeze, then the narwhals break through the ice by striking with their backs or tusks. The thickness of the ice that narwhals can break through is about 5 cm.
The narwhal's diet includes mainly cephalopods, with crustaceans and fish a little less common. As a rule, they like to feast on bottom representatives of the ichthyofauna - cod, stingrays, halibut, flounder, gobies. The narwhal can dive 1 km for food and remain at depth for a long time. It is also known that the narwhal lifts bottom-dwelling fish from the bottom with the help of its tusks.
In addition to humans, the narwhal has other enemies, these are polar bears, killer whales and polar sharks, the latter attack the cubs.Narwhals swim either alone or in small schools of 6-10 individuals. Such flocks consist of males or females with cubs. Previously, large groups of several hundred or even thousands of individuals were noticed. In groups, narwhals talk to each other using sharp sounds that resemble whistles, sighs, moos, clicks, gurgles and squeaks. Narwhals mate mainly in the spring. The gestation period lasts 14-15 months, after which 1, rarely 2 cubs are born. Sexual maturity occurs at 4-7 years, at which time males grow up to 4 meters in length, and females up to 3.4 meters. Narwhals live very short lives in captivity, up to 4 months, and do not reproduce, but in the wild they live up to 55 years.
Narwhals are caught mainly by northern peoples, in particular Eskimos. They eat meat, use the fat to fuel lamps as oil, and use the intestines to make ropes. Crafts are made from tusks. In 1976, the Canadian government introduced restrictive measures on narwhal fishing.
The narwhal population numbers approximately 40-50 thousand individuals. This species is listed in the Red Book of Russia and is considered rare.