Mammoth Teeth
Humans have three kinds of teeth: molars, canines and incisors. We use our incisors (the front teeth) to bite into our food, our canines (the pointy teeth) to tear food, and our molars (the flat teeth in the back of our mouth) to chew or grind food.
Mammoths did not have canines, but they did have molars and incisors. Their incisors are actually their tusks! They are like our incisors, but they grow differently and they are much longer!
Studying the molars and tusks can tell us a lot about Lupe.
- What did Lupe eat?
- How old was Lupe?
- What did Lupe use her tusks for?
- How do tusks grow?
- How big do tusks get?
- What else can we learn from tusks?
<< Back to More about mammoths.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0741583.