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RE: When narwhals (Monodon monoceros) rub their tusks together, it is believed to be to share information about the water, not as a sign of aggressive rivalry

in #science7 years ago

Ooooh that's a cool factoid! Last time I was watching D-Atttenbro and he was saying how they might be for detecting movements in the water, or hydrodynamics or even a runaway secondary sexual characteristic.

Great post, thanks :)

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Oh, that's interesting. I didn't find any information about this when I researched the narwhals, so either it had been debunked / is outdated, or David Attenborough used some unreliable sources / shared vague theories. That's really the main problem with nature documentaries in my opinion; you never get to see their sources.

I think he was just putting forward some working theories. He did mention that scientists weren't sure at the time!

Haha... live for sources? You must be a true scientist.

I have definitely seen some questionable stuff presented as fact in documentaries... recently re-watched Walking with Dinosaurs and my god it's a minefield of inaccuracies. :'(

Ah, that makes sense then!

Well, sources are important. Without sources, how can I find out if what someone says is true, or if it's just something they make up? It's not that I don't trust David Attenborough or any of the other nature documentary makers, but it's still nice to be able to verify it for myself to find out how accurate they are :)

Thanks for your comments by the way! I appreciate that you are taking your time to share your thoughts with the rest of us.