# X-rays add new twist to narwhal's spiral tusk

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作者: Jennifer Ouellette | 分类: Science, Biology, marine biology, narwhals | 原文: arstechnica.com

时间: Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:00:51 +0000

Narwhals are toothed whales, renowned for their distinctive straight, spiraling tusks, which many people in medieval times believed were the horns of unicorns and thus held magical healing properties. That belief was debunked long ago, but the tusks remain popular souvenirs in Canada and Greenland. And they still hold a fascination for scientists keen to learn more about their unusual structure. A new paper published in the journal Nature Communications reports that rather than one left-oriented spiral, narwhal tusks also have a second internal spiral oriented in the opposite direction.

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