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From: geetha sri <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 11:45:29 AM
Subject: [FunOnTheNet] 10 Amazing facts about moms in nature
10 Amazing facts about moms in nature
A long time to be pregnant!Elephants have the longest pregnancy in the animal
kingdom at 22 months. The longest human pregnancy on record is 17 months, 11
days.
That was quick!Possums have one of the shortest pregnancies at 16 days. The
shortest human pregnancy to produce a healthy baby was 22 weeks, 6 days -- the
baby was the length of a ballpoint pen.
Whoa, big family!A female oyster produces 100 million young in her lifetime,
the typical hen lays 19 dozen eggs a year, and it is possible for one female
cat to be responsible for the birth of 20,736 kittens in four years. Michelle
Druggar holds the record for largest human family, having given birth to 17
children.
Never grow up.Chimpanzees have the longest childhoods (apart from humans),
staying with their mothers for up to 7 years. These days human children have
been taking longer and longer to leave home -- with more than 50% of adults
under 24 still living with mom and dad. In 2006, the phenomenon was so big that
it became the premise for a Hollywood movie called "Failure to Launch."
Got milk?Whale Calves nurse for 7 to 8 months and are weaned when they reach 52
feet (16 m) in length. At that time they weigh about 23 tons (20,900 kg).
During the nursing period, calves consume 100 gallons of the fat-rich mother's
milk each day. By comparison, human babies consume a little over 3 cups of
their mother's milk on a daily basis.
Male mommies.Male seahorses can actually give birth to offspring. While this is
normally impossible for human beings, Thomas Beatie, who had his gender legally
changed from female to male, is currently the world's first pregnant man.
That's a lot of kids!Tiger sharks can have anywhere from 10 to 80 young in one
birth. The largest number of human children that have survived from one birth
are the McCaughey septuplets (in birth order, Kenneth Robert, Alexis May,
Natalie Sue, Kelsey Ann, Nathan Roy, Brandon James, Joel Steven), who were born
in Des Moines, IA in 1997.
A very....close knit family.All pet hamsters are descended from a single female
wild golden hamster found with a litter of 12 young in Syria in 1930.
Inbreeding in humans significantly increases the chances of genetic defects,
and is widely shunned. However, marrying aunts, uncles and cousins is still
very common among European royal families -- even the Queen of England and her
husband Phillip are second cousins once removed.
More than one womb?Kangaroos have two wombs. While rare, this does occur in
humans -- and there have been cases of mothers with two wombs giving birth to
triplets..
That's an, um, unique birthing positionGiraffes are born with the mother
standing up, on the lookout for predators. That means a long drop of 5 to 7
feet to the ground -- long enough to break the baby's umbilical cord. Ancient
drawings show human women giving birth standing up as well, and contemporary
mothers interested in natural birth sometimes opt for this position (though
there's always someone there to catch the baby!).
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