11 Animals With Tusks and the Surprising Reasons They Grow Them
October 26, 2026
A tusk is not a horn, and it never stops growing. Unlike the keratin headgear on a goat or a rhino, animals with tusks are carrying around modified teeth that push out past the lips and keep lengthening for the animal’s entire life. That single fact explains why an old bull elephant can carry ivory heavier than a grown man, and why a babirusa boar ends up with teeth that curl back toward its own forehead.
This list moves through 11 species, living and extinct, that rely on tusks to dig, fight, display, or simply survive in some of the toughest habitats on Earth. Some of these animals are famously social; others become increasingly territorial or solitary as they age, and their tusks often play a direct role in that shift.
| Animal | Tusk Type | Approximate Maximum Length |
|---|---|---|
| African Elephant | Elongated incisors | Over 6 feet |
| Narwhal | Single spiral canine | Nearly 10 feet |
| Walrus | Paired canines | About 3 feet |
| Hippopotamus | Paired lower canines | About 1.5 feet |
| Warthog | Two pairs of canines | 10 to 25 inches |
| Babirusa | Four canines (upper pair pierces the snout) | Up to 16 inches |
1. Elephant
Elephants are the animal most people picture first when they hear “tusks,” and for good reason. When you think of tusks, elephants are likely the first animals that come to mind, since they are the largest living land animals, with huge tusks to match. Those tusks are really elongated incisors, and the main differences between teeth and tusks are that tusks continue to grow throughout an animal’s life, they’re made from dentine rather than coated in enamel, and they’re held in place by ligaments.
Not every elephant grows tusks the same way. There are two main species of African elephants — the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and the African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) — and forest elephants are mainly found in the dense rainforests of West and Central Africa, including Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, forest elephants’ tusks are thin and straight rather than curved, and the animals use them to feed by tearing bark off trees or digging up roots.
Tusk ownership also splits by sex depending on the species. The World Wildlife Fund notes that both male and female African elephants have tusks, while only male Asian elephants and only a certain percentage of females have tusks.
Elephants even show a kind of handedness: just as humans are left- or right-handed, elephants are left-tusked or right-tusked, and the dominant tusk is usually more worn down from frequent use. Older bulls often drift away from the herd for long stretches, joining the ranks of animals that live alone for most of the year outside the breeding season.
Elephants also carry a reputation for remarkable recall, a trait covered in more depth in this piece on animals with good memory, and their long lives — matched by few other land mammals — are explored further among animals with the longest lifespan.
Pro Tip: You can often tell which tusk an elephant favors just by looking for the shorter, more rounded tip — the same way a pencil wears down faster on a right-hander’s dominant side.
2. Narwhal
The narwhal breaks nearly every rule that applies to other tusked mammals. The male narwhal’s straight, single helical tusk, which usually grows out from the left side of the mouth, is an exception to the typical curved, paired tusks seen in most species. It is, at its core, an oversized canine tooth rather than an incisor.
The scale of that tooth is hard to overstate. Narwhal tusks can reach an amazing 3 meters, or nearly 10 feet, in length, spiraling in a consistent counter-clockwise pattern as they grow. Tusk ownership skews heavily by sex — the narwhal is found in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s typically only the males who have one, growing out of the left side of the face, though the occasional female or double-tusked male does turn up. Researchers still debate exactly how much of the tusk’s job is combat versus sensory input, since the tooth is riddled with nerve endings that may help the whale detect changes in water salinity. You can read more about the anatomy behind it on the Wikipedia entry on tusks.
3. Hippopotamus
Despite their bulk, hippos are technically part of the same broad group of tusked mammals as pigs and warthogs. There are two species of hippo — the common river hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) and the smaller pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) — and both grow imposing canine tusks from the lower jaw.
Hippos possess large tusks that can grow up to 50 centimetres, or about 19.6 inches, long, and they’re used as powerful defence weapons against both predators and rival hippos. What makes these tusks especially dangerous in a fight is that they are always growing and don’t have roots, so they stay sharp even with daily use. Hippos back up that bite with one of the strongest jaw clamps in the animal kingdom, a topic covered in detail among animals with the strongest bite force. As one of the few large mammals whose common name happens to fit a specific letter search, the hippo also shows up on lists like animals that start with H.
4. Walrus
Walrus tusks look ornamental, but they are working tools that the animal depends on daily. Walrus tusks are actually very long canine teeth that grow continuously throughout their lives, and both males and females grow them, though males’ tusks tend to run larger.
Size-wise, walrus tusks can be over 95 centimeters, or about 3 feet, long. The most practical daily use has nothing to do with fighting: walruses use their tusks to grip and haul themselves onto ice, which matters enormously for an animal that spends so much of its life moving between frigid Arctic water and ice floes. Tusks also settle disputes over prime resting spots within a herd, since size and condition signal age and strength without every disagreement turning physical. Outside of breeding season, older bulls sometimes peel off from the group entirely, adopting the kind of solitary, territorial behavior seen in several other tusked species on this list.
5. Warthog
The warthog wears its tusks like a permanent set of built-in weapons. A warthog has two pairs of tusks, with males using their upper tusks in ritual combat with other males, according to A-Z Animals. The lower pair is smaller but far more dangerous in an actual fight.
The tusks run 10 to 25 inches long in boars, and are smaller in sows. Common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) are strictly African, and despite their stocky build they are surprisingly fast on their feet — Animal Corner notes they can hit speeds of up to 48 km/h, or 30 mph, when a predator like a lion gets too close. Males are famously territorial, defending burrows and breeding rights with the same tusks they display during ritual sparring matches. With four modified canines total, warthogs also make an interesting case study for anyone curious about animals with the most teeth.
Important Note: A warthog’s upper tusks look more dramatic, but researchers note the shorter lower tusks are the ones that actually cause serious injury in fights — the upper pair mostly protects the face.
6. Muntjac
Muntjac deer prove that tusks are not exclusive to pigs, walruses, and elephants. Muntjac deer (Muntiacus reevesi), also known as Reeves Muntjac, Chinese Muntjac, and Barking Deer, belong to the genus Muntiacus, and males grow small, sharp upper canine tusks instead of relying purely on antlers.
These tusks work alongside short antlers rather than replacing them, and males use both together during territorial disputes over does and feeding grounds. Muntjac are among the mammals whose canine teeth form true tusks, a group that also includes narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, pigs, peccaries, hippopotamuses, and walruses. Like most deer, muntjac are ruminants that break down tough plant material in a multi-chambered stomach, a digestive trait shared with several other species covered among animals with multiple stomachs.
7. Chevrotain
Chevrotains, often nicknamed mouse-deer, are among the smallest hoofed mammals alive, and they carry tusks that look oddly large for their size. Chevrotains belong to the same broad canine-tusk group as narwhals, muntjac, musk deer, and water deer, meaning their tusks are elongated canine teeth rather than incisors.
Water chevrotains in particular are known for pale spotted or striped markings along the body, a pattern that helps them stay hidden in dense undergrowth — a trait shared with several animals profiled among animals with stripes. Males use their small tusks in territorial skirmishes, but chevrotains are otherwise shy, mostly nocturnal, and rarely seen outside their native forests in Africa and Asia. Their reclusive habits make them one of the more genuinely antisocial animal species on this list, avoiding contact with anything, including each other, outside of mating season.
8. Wild pig
Wild pigs and their relatives show just how differently a single body plan can put tusks to use. According to Minden Pictures, tusks in mammals like warthogs, walruses, and wild pigs are mostly modified canine teeth, and the wild boar (Sus scrofa) is often used as the reference image for what a “typical” tusk looks like.
Not every pig-family relative grows the same shape of tusk. Peccary tusks are short, straight, and razor sharp, whereas true pigs have long, curved tusks, and peccaries rely on scent glands rather than sight to navigate their territory, since they have poor eyesight but very good hearing. That reliance on sound over sight puts peccaries in good company among animals with the best hearing, and their name alone earns them a spot on lists like animals that start with P.
- Wild boars use tusks primarily for rooting through soil and defending against predators.
- Peccaries use shorter, blade-like tusks mainly for slicing tough plant material.
- Both groups mark territory using scent glands rather than visual displays alone.
9. Rock hyrax
The rock hyrax is proof that tusks do not have to be large to be biologically fascinating. The rock hyrax has strong molars for eating tough vegetation, plus two large incisor teeth that grow out to be tiny tusks, just like an elephant, according to a PBS Nature fact sheet.
That elephant comparison is not a coincidence — hyraxes, elephants, and manatees all share a distant common ancestor. Composed of only dentin and a thin layer of enamel, hyrax tusks are triangular in shape and serve no observed function for feeding, functioning instead as a defensive display and communication tool. Hyraxes back that up with sharp, longer, claw-like nails, called a grooming claw, on the inner toe of the back foot, used for grooming and scratching — a detail worth comparing against other species profiled among animals with claws. Colonies mark rock outcrops with scent glands, making individual hyraxes fiercely territorial animals despite living in loose groups.
10. Babirusa
Few tusks in the animal kingdom look stranger than the babirusa’s. Native to Indonesia’s Sulawesi region, London Zoo explains that a babirusa’s tusks are actually canine teeth which can reach 40cm long and grow through their skin, piercing the snout and curving back toward the forehead.
Exactly why the babirusa evolved this way remains an open question. The reason babirusas have tusks is a bit of a mystery, though it’s now speculated that the tusks are for displaying to females, similar to a peacock. That theory gains support from how fragile the upper tusks actually are: these tusks are brittle and loose in their sockets, apparently useless as offensive weapons, though they may help shield the face while the daggerlike lower tusks are used in fighting. Illegal hunting for those tusks has taken a toll on wild populations, and conservation status varies by island group in ways worth knowing if you’re tracking the species.
Key Insight: A male babirusa’s upper tusks grow continuously and, if never worn down naturally, can eventually curve back far enough to pierce the animal’s own skull.
11. Mastodon
Mastodons went extinct roughly 10,000 to 11,000 years ago, but their tusks left a fossil record that still sets records today. Along with woolly mammoths, the American mastodon was one of several ancient elephant relatives that also carried large tusks, and mastodon tusks were structurally similar to those of living elephants — elongated, curved incisors made mostly of dentine.
Some fossil finds are almost hard to believe. According to Kiddle’s tusk fact sheet, tusks belonging to the mastodon “Mammut borsoni” from Greece reached over 5 meters, or 16 feet, in length — the longest tusks ever recorded. Unlike modern elephants, mastodons browsed on shrubs and forest vegetation rather than grazing grasses, and paleontologists believe their tusks served the same core functions seen in living tuskers: stripping bark, digging, and settling disputes between rival males during breeding season.
Common Mistake: Mastodons and mammoths are often confused, but mastodons had straighter, more widely spaced tusks and cone-shaped molars built for browsing leaves rather than grinding grass.
Across every species on this list, the pattern holds: a tusk is a tooth that outgrew the mouth, and each animal bent that basic biology toward a different survival strategy. Some, like the narwhal and babirusa, turned tusks into elaborate display pieces. Others, like the warthog and walrus, treat them as everyday tools for fighting, digging, or climbing onto ice. Whether the animal in question is a two-ton elephant or a housecat-sized chevrotain, the same overgrown teeth keep showing up as one of nature’s most flexible adaptations.