10 Animals With Totally Unusual Pregnancies And Births

The animal world is really amazing, and the gestation process and the way some animals have their young are proof of that. Depending on the species, the young can weigh tons, they can be carried by the male or they can go through a gestation process that lasts more than three years.

Bearing this enormous diversity in mind, the incredible.club wants to show you ten animals with unusual pregnancies and births within the animal kingdom.

The kiwi is one of the most peculiar birds on Earth and unfortunately it is in danger of extinction. A first aspect that draws attention is the fact that the male and female stay together their whole lives, that is, they are monogamous animals. Another peculiarity is the proportion between the weight of the egg and the body of the female. On average, an egg is 15% of your body weight, which can reach 20%. Furthermore, it is the male who is in charge of incubating it.

The platypus is one of the few mammals that lay eggs. After a gestation period of 28 days, the female digs a burrow and lays her eggs in it. She then hatches them for ten days, until the shell breaks. The young feed on mother’s milk for three or four months and then leave the burrow and go out to look for food.

Giraffe gestation usually lasts 15 months. After this period, giraffes give birth standing up. That is, the puppies have to face a fall of approximately 1.5 meters at birth. Around half an hour they manage to stand up and after about ten hours they are already running beside their mothers.

An adult humpback whale can measure up to 16 meters and weigh up to 36 tons. The gestation period for this species is 11 months and the young can measure up to 4 meters and weigh up to 1.5 tons. Immediately after birth, the young begin to swim and in six weeks they accompany their mothers on a 5,000-kilometre migration in search of food.

The Surinam Toad (kite kite) is a leaf-like amphibian that lives in the jungles of South America. To reproduce, the male lays the fertilized eggs on the female’s back and they are protected under a skin that grows during the process. The young develop for four months and when they leave the mother’s back they are fully formed frogs.

The seahorse is also a monogamous animal and is one of the few species in which the male is responsible for incubating the eggs. The process happens as follows: the female deposits the eggs in an abdominal pouch of the male and he is responsible for fertilizing and hatching the chicks.

The female kangaroo has a pouch in her belly where the baby has just been formed. This happens because a newborn measures approximately 2.5 centimeters and needs to be comfortable and safe in the mother’s pouch for a few months, where he feeds on breast milk. About after the fourth month the chick comes out of the pouch to walk and to eat bushes and herbs. Normally, by completing ten months he feels strong enough to leave the bag for good.

The cichlid family includes one of the largest vertebrate fish in the world. Many of its species keep the eggs in their mouths to ensure their survival. The process happens as follows: at the time of reproduction, the female lays the eggs and catches them in her mouth. Then the male fertilizes the eggs and incubation lasts approximately seven days. The mother does not eat until the pups are born.

The catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) has a great ability to hide its eggs among those of cichlids. It all happens in a few seconds, between the moment the female cichlid lays the eggs and bends over to catch them in her mouth. As catfish eggs grow quickly and hatch in just three days, newborn chicks eat cichlid eggs that take about seven days to hatch.

The frilled shark is special because it does not lay eggs. Embryos come out of capsules inside the mother’s uterus, where they stay for 42 months before being born. This animal is also called the eel shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) and with each gestation, 2 to 15 offspring are usually born.

Do you know other animals that go through unusual pregnancies and births? Share your knowledge in the comments.