Narwhals usually have one horn apiece, but this fellow has bagged a double. (AFP photo)
People have generally assumed that narwhal horns were used for defense, but according to an article in Le Figaro, scientists still aren't in agreement:
A research group including specialists in cetaceans as well as dentists are exploring other assumptions. One of their favorites would be a sensory probe. In the support of this theory is the presence of 10 million nerve endings in the pulp of the gigantic tooth. The narwhal could thus detect the salinity of water, its temperature or its pressure, and also the presence of its favorite prey animals. [my translation]
See also Alex's 2005 post on the Super Sensing Tusk of the Unicorn Whale.
Comments (11)
Shame that something so pretty and rare can fetch such a high price. This is the moral dilemma poachers (and native people with hunting rights) face daily. Could you resist hunting rare animals that can bring you/your family a better life through TONS of money? Tough choices, & sad statement on mankind. Everything has a price tag. Save a species from extinction, or watch your kids grow up healthy. Tough choice.
Save the planet, don't have kids...I say. :P
FYI: mukluk is a boot. Muktuk is meat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RAfxiyMKAk
But ok, that "That's All Right" song is VERY Rock'n'roll.
Whaaa? 1946? That's just a bizarre thing to say for a song recorded so late in the history of recorded guitar solos. Roy Smeck, Eddie Lang, and other early jazz guys were recording solo breaks way, way, way before that, as were blues guys like Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Since Rock and Roll is one of those loose terms where there will never be final agreement on the definition, it's just semantics what the first Rock and Roll song is.
Crudup's "That's Alright Mama" was an up-tempo Delta Blues song. (Rockabilly had not arrived on the scene in '47).
Elvis' version (1954) was Rock & Roll, but it was predated on the Billboard charts by Bill Haley's "Crazy Man Crazy" (1953 #12).
More likely candidates include "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston & The Delta Cats. (Ike Turner wrote the song and was lead musician with Jackie on sax and vocal. Sam Phillips produced the session.)
Also, there's a strong case to me made for the even earlier (1947) "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris.
But, in reality, Rock & Roll was an evolutionary process rather than a revolutionary process, so there is always room for debate over the first line crosser.
And finally, Farrier's definition of Rock and Roll left out it's most common useage: Negro slang for having sex.