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Created: 2010-02-04
Updated: 2010-02-04

Tusks conserve materials: walrus


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Slide_show_arrows  1 of 1 Walrus tusks / Steve Johnso.. / LicenseCC-by-nc-sa - Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike

The tusks of a walrus conserve materials because they are multi-functional.

Biomimicry Taxonomy
 
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Biomimetic Application Ideas
 
Designing simple multi-functional products to reduce material use.

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[Collapse all sections] Summary
"The walrus has only 18 teeth in its mouth, but the upper canines form great ivory tusks up to a metre long. It uses them for levering itself on to ice floes, as weapons in battles with other males over females, and as digging tools to extract clams and other invertebrates from the sea bed. A walrus may dive to depths of 200 metres and more in search of food, and is thought to use its tusks to plough up the sediments on the sea bottom to expose shells, which are recognized in these murky depths by the stiff sensory bristles on its snout. Behind the tusks are strong flat teeth capable of crushing the hardest shells." (Foy and Oxford Scientific Films 1982:147)
About the inspiring organism
Med_216999246_73b0beacbc_b Walrus
Odobenus rosmarus (Linnaeus, 1758)
[Walrus]

IUCN Red List Status: Unknown
Habitat(s): Marine Intertidal, Marine Neritic, Marine Oceanic

Some organism data provided by: ITIS: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist
Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Designing simple multi-functional products to reduce material use.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Business, design

References
Foy, Sally; Oxford Scientific Films. 1982. The Grand Design: Form and Colour in Animals. Lingfield, Surrey, U.K.: BLA Publishing Limited for J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd, Aldine House, London. 238 p.
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