Everyday Biophilia

There are any number of peculiar looking animals in the world, but perhaps none more so than the narwhal. These so-called “unicorns of the sea” have been intriguing people probably since the first human crossed the Bering Land Bridge and got a good look at the creatures. The taxonomic name for narwhal – Monodon monoceros – is one of those Latin descriptors that suggests the animal got a Linnaean classification before scientists knew a whole hell of a lot about the creature they were naming. Meaning “one tooth, one horn,” the tooth part is right, but the horn part isn’t. A narwhal does not have a horn. The thing sticking out of its head that looks like a horn is actually a tooth, or more properly a tusk. More about that in a bit. In Arctic Dreams , author Barry Lopez remarks, “We know more about the rings of Saturn than we know about narwhal.” This is frustratingly true. Biologists still know relatively little about narwhal, due to the fact that they are incredibly difficult to stu...