My, What Lovely Big Teeth You Have!
Monday, November 30th, 2015Monster Monday
November 30, 2015
For the male babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) of Indonesia, being ugly has never been a disadvantage. These large, wild members of the pig family have rough, wrinkled, brownish-gray skin with only a thin covering of white or gray bristles. Adult males grow huge tusks on their snout. The people of Sulawesi, Indonesia, consider the babirusa to be so ugly that they make babirusa masks to represent demons in ceremonies. But the male babirusa actually uses one of its most fearsome features to gain an advantage attracting mates. After all, love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.
Many species of mammals are endowed with impressive tusks, which are actually canine teeth that grow to great length. Scientists have proposed many explanations for why some animals grow tusks. They often help in self-defense and can be used to dig up roots and bulbs for food. But much of the time, tusks play a role in selecting mates.
Adult male babirusas sport two pairs of tusks. As in many members of the pig family, to which the babirusa belongs, the lower pair grows up and out of the mouth, curving above the upper lip. The upper pair, however, is unique. These teeth start out growing downward, but as the babirusa reaches adulthood, the tooth sockets rotate, and the teeth begin to grow up and into the top of the snout. The tusks pierce through the animal’s skin and sometimes even curve back until they impale the animal’s skull!
Male babirusas fight as they compete to impress females. During these fights, males rear up on their hind legs to butt heads against other males. Their large tusks may help protect the animal’s eyes during the fierce combat. But the impressive tusks of the babirusa are actually quite brittle and break easily, so they have limited value in fights between males. The real purpose of the massive tusks may be to help male babirusas avoid fighting. Some males might think twice before challenging another babirusa sporting an array of ivory armor like a football helmet. Zoologists studying the animals in the wild have found that female babirusas, which lack large tusks, seem to prefer males with the largest tusks as mates. For the female babirusa, the bigger the tusks, the stronger the male.