VERIFIED FACT

A narwhal's tusk is a sensitive tooth, not a horn.

Why this sounds fake

The tusk looks like a horn from myth, not a living tooth connected to sensory tissue.

The narwhal's tusk looks like a fantasy horn, so it is easy to file it with antlers or horns. Biologically, it is an elongated canine tooth, usually projecting from the upper left jaw of males. Smithsonian-linked research has also mapped sensory tissues and nerve pathways in the tusk, supporting the idea that it can respond to environmental stimuli. The exact social roles of tusks are still studied, so the safest surprise is anatomical: the famous spiral is a tooth with sensory capacity. The unicorn image hides something stranger than a horn.

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