Today, most people don’t even realize they are there because the pair of ivories is hidden in the elk’s upper jaw. … And yes, these ivory teeth are just that, real ivory. And they’re present in both bull elk and cow elk. Just like other elk teeth, they can slowly get worn down and stained over time as the elk gets older.
The elk or wapiti, which has the taxonomic name Cervus elaphus, once ranged all over the North American continent. Found today chiefly in the western United States, elk possess the rare distinction of having both antlers and ivory canine teeth, believed to have been bona fide tusks many thousands of years ago during the animal’s evolution.
Characteristics of the Teeth
Among North American animals, only walruses and elk have ivory teeth. In walruses these are tusks, but in elk they are anatomically similar to the remaining teeth. These ivories, also called “buglers” or “whistlers,” rest in the maxilla, or upper jaw, on each side of the incisors, or front teeth. In prehistoric times, before the elk wandered eastward across the Bering land bridge into what is now Alaska, these ivory teeth were perhaps 6 to 8 inches long.