Quick post today with something really interesting I learnt recently.
You have probably heard about elephants and their long gestation periods that last a whopping 18 to 22 months. Yeah...imagine being pregnant for almost 2 years. ðĪŠ
But have you ever wondered what's the record for the shortest gestation?
Well...the winner is this little cute fella:
This mouse thingie is commonly known as the striped-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura). It is a small, Australian, nocturnal, marsupial mouse, part of the family Dasyuridae and is found in much of inland central and northern Australia. Australia huh? Color me surprised ð
On average their gestation lasts a mere 11 days! The litter size varies to a maximum of eight joeys which is equal to the number of teats. Then they stay in the pouch for about another 40 days.
As for the second place, the record goes to this ugly little fella:
The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), also known as the North American opossum.
This one comes really close with the average gestation lasting just 12 days!
And finally the bronze medal goes to the golden or syrian hamster, scientifically described as Mesocricetus auratus:
The species gestation period clocks at an average of 16 days whereas most other hamsters are at about 20 days.
If today's post piqued your interest you may want to visit this Wikipedia entry covering the gestation period of all kinds of animals, from shortest to longest.
Ok, this is it for today friends. As always, see you soon with more strange wonders from mother nature ð