It is capable, too, of powerful twisting and coiling movements used for tearing down trees or fighting. The largest tusk ever recorded weighed 214 pounds and was 138 inches long. Tusks of this size are not found on elephants in Africa today, as over the years hunters and poachers have taken animals with the largest tusks. Because tusk size is an inherited characteristic, it is rare to find one now that would weigh more than 100 pounds. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, although only males in the Asiatic species have them.
Tusks grow for most of an elephant's lifetime and are an indicator of age.
Although the elephant's remaining teeth do not attract the ivory poacher, they are nonetheless interesting and ultimately determine the natural life span of the elephant. As a tooth becomes badly worn, it is pushed out and replaced by the next tooth growing behind. These large, oblong teeth have a series of cross ridges across the surface. The last molar, which erupts at about 25 years, has the greatest number of ridges but must also serve the elephant for the rest of its life. The African elephant's ears are over twice as large as the Asian elephant's and have a different shape, often described as similar to a map of Africa.