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Thanks all for the nice comments about this Tusker Special...
I will think about adding some other specials later on.

Thanx Aat, just like Phillip, I'm learning alot from posts and the tusker site, will be waitng for more!

oups missed this post
Mac, Oh ! Mac...also a friend of me

thank you Aat for good memories

Hi all tuskermites.
Here number two of the specials about tuskers. This time more about the tusks of elephant's and the development of a (promising) big tusker.

I regularly get questions about the tusks of (Big) Tuskers.
One of the questions is about growth and another why do most Tuskers have a “chip” in one of their tusks and for what purposes do Tuskers use their tusks.

About growth of the tusks:

Growth of the Tusks
A little more about the tusks and how they develop over the years.

The first tusks of an elephant calf are called “tushes”. These tushes are replaced by permanent second ones within 6 to 13 months after birth.
These tusks forming the proper tusks like we can see when the elephant is 2 to 3 years old.
Tusks grow continuously throughout the elephant’s life.

There is a kind of fast increase in length between 2 to 6 years, followed by a slower but lineair that persists until death. Probably at this age we already can see if a male elephant will be a promising tusker later on.

By the age of 20 the mean tusk weight for males has surpassed the maximum mean attained by females.

Because the rate of growth in the length of the tusks is constant throughout life and the circumference of the tusks are increasing simultaneously, the mass of the tusks in a male elephant increase at an escalating rate with the major weight gain in the elephant’s life.

So…. The (big) tuskers we know are mainly over 40 years of age and they have longer and thicker tusks then other male elephants at the age. In a relative way the tusks are growing more rapid after the age of 40 then between 20 and 40.

You can say that the “talented” tuskers will gain more weight by the way they grow… so longer and more “volume” then others.

In my previous post about MAC we can see this is true by the last measurement of his tusks.

About "chips - grass notches and use:

Elephants (including the tuskers) do use their tusks for different purposes, like digging for water, salt and roots, but also to manipulate / debark felled trees and branches.
Another use is to support their head while they rest (sleep). We sometimes see this when their tusks are resting on the edge of concrete waterholes or on a tree and they don’t move for some time, kind of “taking a nap”.
A different use of the the tusks is to defend themselves or for offencing reasons. Mainly when they are in musth.

Now coming to answer the second question about the “chip” in one of their tusks.
The constant manipulation of grass wears a groove into the tip of the tusk which can be seen with many tuskers (elephants). This groove is known as a “grass notch”
The tusk with this “grass notch” is always the so called “master tusk”. Like humans tuskers are right or left handed. The “master tusk” is usually shorter and more rounded at the tip caused by greater wear.

To support this I added a picture of such a “grass notch”
It is the master tusk of Nwanedzi who was so kind to pose just a few meters away from me near Letaba.
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This was number two in this series...hope you lik it

very interesting Aat, thank you

Thanks for this information !!

Aat, as ever, so interesting. Thank you for that information. One more thing to add to my bush enjoyment. Now I can go and look to see if a tusker is left or right... tusked.

Thanks again Aat for more very interesting information. Unfortunately the image doesn't show for me, but i seem to remember you pointing out grass notches in a picture in a post on the Tusker thread so I'm not feeling deprived!

Thank you for this great info

Hi all tuskermites and others interested about elephants.

This time I like to tell you a bit more about what makes Elephants Unique , compared to all other mammals.

About their lungs and respiratory system


Elephants are unique !
The respiratory system of the elephant is quite exceptional in a number of ways. The elephant lacks a pleural cavity. This means the lungs are directly attached to the walls of the chest cavity and to the diaphragm.

Thus respiratory movements are solely dependent on chest musculature, since there is no mechanism of inflating the lungs by negative pressure in the pleural cavity as is usual in mammals.

Mammals usually share the common trait of a pleural cavity; the space between the pleura, in which the lungs are situated. This lubricated membrane, the pleura, usually aids in respiration by exerting negative pressure on the lungs and thereby forcing them to expand so that the host can inspire (breathe in).

However, elephants do not have this cavity. Rather, their ample lungs are attached directly to the chest cavity wall and the diaphragm. Elephants will breathe out an average of 310 litres of air every minute!

The elephant causes its lungs to expand and relax by moving the muscles in its chest. This is obviously a reflex and does not need to be consciously controlled by the animal. However, because it is so dependent on the movement of the chest and diaphragm, it is very important that the animal remains free of constriction or abnormal pressure in these areas.

If an elephant’s body is compressed in a way that causes the chest or diaphragm to be squeezed too much, the beast will die of suffocation. Their bodies are specially adapted so that their naturally enormous weight does not place too much pressure on their chest due to gravitational pull.

Air enters the lungs through internal nares which are located high on the forehead. The position of the nares is indicated by the plate-size circle of skin.

An elephant can breathe through its mouth as well as through its trunk, so it can retain water or dust in the trunk without having to hold its breathe.

Elephants are known as very good “swimmers”. They have no problem with waterpressure because of their lungs and how they are attached in their bodies.

thanks for reading and till next Elephants / Tusker facts.

Thanks for all the great info AAT has anyone seen MAC lately?

Very interesting Aat; thanks to you I'm getting to know a lot more about elephants so keep the Big Tusker Specials coming!!

THANKS !!
Very very interesting and real added value. Learned a lot more about the ellies and tuskers. Keep on doing this good job