[ad_1]
You’ve probably heard the term “They breed like rabbits!” Well, this does not apply to elephants at all. Elephants have the longest gestation of all mammals. Rabbits may have litter in 25-28 days (about a month), while elephants are about 680 days pregnant (22 months!). They also wait longer between pregnancies, with an average of four years waiting, whereas rabbits are ready for the next litter within a few days. All animals are characterized by a longer pregnancy in larger animals, and a shorter pregnancy in smaller ones. Larger animals tend to have fewer or single litters compared to smaller animals that have more babies at the same time to ensure their chances of survival. But having an elephant pregnancy that lasted almost 2 years? Why so long? What other animals have a similar gestation period? Are there other animals with longer pregnancies? Let’s figure it out!
Why do elephants have such a long pregnancy?
There is a correlation between intelligence and length of gestation, as some of the more advanced animals have the longest gestation period. Chimpanzee pregnancy is similar to that of humans in duration. Human pregnancy lasts 9 months, while chimpanzees are pregnant for 8 months. Dolphins, another highly intelligent animal, have an even longer gestation period of about a year. The researchers suggest that for the elephants’ brains to fully develop and survive outside the uterus, elephants need a longer pregnancy. After all, an elephant has the largest brain of any land animal!
How long are elephants pregnant?
African elephants are pregnant for an average of about 22 months. This gives them the longest gestation period of any mammal. Asian elephants have a more variable gestation period, with a gestation period of 18 to 22 months. Unsurprisingly, their gestation period is shorter as they are, on average, shorter than the two African elephant species.
What other animals have a long pregnancy?
If you look at other mammals, then a giraffe, rhinoceros and walrus have a pregnancy of more than a year.
- Giraffe: A giraffe’s pregnancy lasts about 15 months, and scientists believe it takes time for them to grow long enough to survive a 6-foot drop at birth. Little giraffes are born tall enough to play basketball at 6.5 feet!
- Rhinos: Pregnancy in rhinos lasts 15-18 months. It’s good for mom that baby rhinos are not born with horns! It takes several months for them to appear, and they continue to grow throughout their life.
- Walrus: Baby walruses don’t need to take swimming lessons! They are born able to swim. The mother carries them 15-16 months before giving birth.
Which animal has the longest pregnancy?
Elephants have the longest gestation for mammals, but what about other animals? The blue whale is the largest animal on Earth; do they really have to have a long pregnancy? Nope! The gestation period for blue whales lasts 11-12 months, so they look like dolphins. But there is a marine animal that has a longer pregnancy than an elephant.
Here’s a shocking fact: the animal with the longest pregnancy is believed to be the winged shark!
The shroud shark is pregnant for three and a half years! In Japan, a study of these sharks showed that young are born alive after hatching and spend 3 ½ years in the womb. Frilled sharks are rare and live deep in the ocean. They look more like eels and grow up to 7 feet in length. Scientists believe they are having such a long pregnancy due to the cold waters they encounter at the bottom of the ocean. The pregnancy of the shroud shark lasts 3 and a half years!
In Japan, a study of these sharks showed that young are born alive after hatching and spend 3 ½ years in the womb. Frilled sharks are rare and live deep in the ocean. They look more like eels and grow up to 7 feet in length. Scientists believe they are having such a long pregnancy because of the cold water they encounter at the bottom of the ocean. Frilled female sharks can carry litters of two to 15 pups at a time.
Which animal has the shortest pregnancy?
This is not a rabbit, as you might think. Most studies indicate that the Virginia possum has the shortest gestation at 12 days, but as new species are discovered, the records are disputed. Another marsupial, the striped Dannart, had an 11-day pregnancy! But both continue to develop in their mothers’ pouch for several more weeks. Compared to 200lb elephants, Virginia possums are the size of honeybees at birth, and Dannart’s cubs are the size of a grain of rice when they are born and crawl into their mom’s bag!
[ad_2]
Source link