Prudy Elam, age 11, of Indianapolis, Indiana, for her question:

Do elephants have teeth?

An elephant's ivory tusks are a pair of extra large incisor teeth. Not only does he have teeth, he has two of the largest teeth in the world, and they continue to grow throughout his life. He also has teeth inside his mouth. All of them are huge, flat molars suitable for grinding his tough vegetable food. They also change throughout his life. As those in the front wear down, they fall out and others move forward from the back of his jaws to replace them.

Usually he has fewer than 12 molars in working order. They are toward the front of his jaws, where he does his chewing. Early in life, he loses his first set of 12 baby teeth, one by one or two by two. They are replaced by 12 stronger teeth. An elephant may wear out 24 molars during his lifetime    but his two toothy tusks continue growing until the end of his days.