Question

Tusks of elephant are
A. Upper canines
B. Upper incisors
C. Lower incisors
D. Lower canines

Answer 1

Hint: Elephants are the largest living mammals having a pair of long sharp teeth present on each side of the trunk. These are called tusks. The canines are the teeth used for tearing and piercing the food. They are present on each side of incisors. They are sharper than incisors and are pointed. The incisors are the front teeth that help in biting the food.

Complete answer:
Elephants are the largest mammal species. The elephant tusks are the long sharp teeth that are modified incisors present in the upper jaw. The deciduous milk teeth at the age of 6 to 12 are replaced by tusks and they continuously grow for about 17 cm a year. The initial tusks have a smooth enamel cap that wears off with growing tusks. The dentine of the tusks is called ivory. Much of the tusks are visible outside the skull but the rest of the tusks lie inside the skull.

The tusks serve various important functions for the elephants. They help in lifting and moving objects in the path. They are used to dig water, salt, and roots of plants. Also, tusks are used during the fighting and defending. Like humans are left or right-handed, elephants are also left or right tusked. The master tusk is the dominant tusk that is usually having a shorter and rounded tip. So, the tusks of an elephant are upper incisors that are modified to become long and curved. The upper canines, lower incisors, and canine and other teeth are present normally inside the jaw of an elephant for chewing and grinding of food.
Hence, the right answer is option B.

Note: The elephant tusks are used for various manufacturing purposes. When tusks are removed they extensively harm the elephants. The ivory of tusks contains pulp that starts drying up after removal. To avoid this, the tusks are kept in cool and moist conditions. The mass killing of elephants is done to obtain the ivory. This is leading to categorizing elephants as endangered in various regions.