Een merkwaardige slagtand van de wolharige mammoet, Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799), uit de Noordzee en korte beschrijvingen van twee mammoettanden uit Europa en Azië, met algemene opmerkingen over slagtanden

Using three distinct different tusks of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), we intend to illustrate the great variety that can be seen in this species as well as the possible functionality of those tusks. A remarkable complete tusk of a woolly mammoth has been trawled from the bottom of the North Sea, near the Eurogeul (Euro gully) in the spring of 2006. This left tusk has a length of 173.5 cm and shows interesting and unusual polished surfaces. These must have evolved during the life of the animal, which was fully adult. The location is well documented and provides clues for the dating of the specimen, expected to be between 44,000 and 37,000 14C years BP. Here we discuss possible causes of these unusual surfaces. Furthermore we describe a small and rare ”milk” tusk of a neonate from a Dutch collection found in a gravel pit near Gildehaus, Germany and as a contrast, we illustrate a huge tusk, probably the biggest and heaviest woolly mammoth tusk ever reported. It was found in 2003, in the far north of Arctic Siberia: Rebrovo or Oyagossky Yar at the Laptev Sea (73° 40’ N – 142° E), and shows a remarkable shallow curvature. It belonged to a bull that died at a high age. The 14C – date for this specimen is 39.300 ± 600 BP. Finally we make some observations about the morphology of elephant tusks and the functionality of those shapes.