How Long Does An Elephant Pregnancy Last

The Level Of Development At Birth

More developed infants will typically require a longer gestation period. Altricial mammals needs less time to gestate compare to the precocial mammal. A typical precocial mammal has a gestation period almost four times longer than a typical altricial mammal of the same body size. Precocial mammal species generally have greater adult body weights than altricial mammals as precocial mammals have markedly longer gestation periods than altricial mammals. The neonatal of larger mammals develop relatively more quickly and thus making it more likely that a large mammal would produce a more well-developed neonate as a consequence of its longer gestation period. In some cases, some mammal species may have similar gestation periods despite having significantly different body masses.

How Long Are Elephants Pregnant For

How long an elephant is pregnant for depends a little on the species. African elephants are pregnant for up to 22 months, while Asian elephants are pregnant for 18-22 months. This is actually the longest gestation period of all mammals, which makes sense when we think about how big elephants are. A blue whale is only pregnant for 10-12 months, nearly half the length of an elephant pregnancy. Compare this to a hamster those little guys are only pregnant for 16 days at a time!

How Much Do You Know About World Elephant Day

Elephants are marked as vulnerable and endangered species. Thats why we have a day in a year where we celebrate them, and its now up to you to tell us how much you know about them!

• How many years do elephants live?
• A.& nbsp

• Sample QuestionAn elephant must consume about how many percentage of its weight in forage daily?Five

• Sample QuestionElephants are one of the biggest animals in the animal kingdom, with two strong horn around the mouth, what type of animal is the elephant?Terrestrial

• Sample QuestionThe bumper sticker on my car says…Choose Life, with the corner of a Pro Women/Pro Choice bumper sticker jutting out from underneath.WWJD? Save a Horse, Ride a CowboyI Brake For Peperoni All I Need To Learn About Islam, I Learned on 9-11I Created Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve! Love, God

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Animals Whose Pregnancy Is Longer Than 9 Months

If women think they’re about to pop after 8 months, imagine after 18 months! So read this and feel much, much better.

Most women when they’re expecting literally get done with the whole pregnancy before they even hit the third trimester. I actually met a friend last week who is merely 28 weeks pregnant, but deep down inside she just wants it to end. For some reason, I became curious and wanted to find out how long animal pregnancies tend to last.

A bit of research made me think that women should thank God that they just have 9 months to deal with. Compared with the ridiculously long pregnancies of many animals out there, a mere 266 days is literally NOTHING to complain about. Compare those 9 months with that of almost 2 years of gestation for elephants. That’s right! Feel a bit better now?

We thought so!

Yes we understand why any women out there might start to feel a bit ready to get the whole thing over with. Who likes the feeling of their skin stretching, lower back pain and pelvic pressure that can’t be relieved with any amount of oils, massages or sleep. There really are legit complaints and we wouldn’t minimize that for a second.

But imagine if the pregnancy was the same as a shark’s? Female sharks carry their eggs for 2 years–and they’re not the only egg bearing species who has to wait 2 long years before they get to lay their eggs.

Do Elephants Eat Their Babies

In captive elephants it is common for them not to know about looking after their young. She may also have gone through birth without another female to help and comfort her. Elephants in zoos have been known to intentionally kill their young, but there is only speculation as to why this is.

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Older Females Act As A Repository Of Social Knowledge

Throughout an elephantâs life, environmental fluctuations and a changing social world require constant behavioral adaptation. The acquisition and retention of knowledge throughout life appears to be essential to an individualâs survival and successful reproduction and to the development of elephant social complexity and communication. Longevity also provides an enabling environment for the development of strong bonds between individuals in a family.

Female elephants spend their lives surrounded by other families and are involved in several levels of competitive and collaborative relationships. During their long lives, elephants cover great distances, eat a wide variety of plant matter, interact with a large number of other elephants and gain many valuable experiences. Advancing age among females is associated with increased social and ecological knowledge and discriminatory abilities. Elderly females maintain their place in the structured female society as leaders, or matriarchs, of their families. In this way older females serve as reservoirs of ecological and social knowledge thus affecting the survival and success of their entire families.

Elephants appear to comprehend the better judgment of older females calves of young mothers spend significant time in the close company of their grandmothers, family members run to the oldest individual in times of real danger, and groups led by young matriarchs seek out families with older leaders with whom to associate.

Diseases Requiring Caution Duringdisposal

Diseases dangerous to both humans and elephants are anthrax,rabies and tuberculosis. Before contact with a potentially carcass, prepare asfollows: wear rubber gloves or, if that is impossible, rub the hands andarms with the head of the tumeric plant before and after contact to counterinfection, inspect yourself carefully for cuts and sores and bandage thewounds or, better, do not take part as germs might enter the wound, and anyworkers ill or not feeling well should take no part because their immune systemswill be compromised, making them more likely to contact the disease. Use a maskor cloth to cover the nose and mouth.

Contagious diseases transmissible tohumans

Anthrax is primarily an animal disease but it can alsoinfect humans and it is often fatal. Anthrax can be easily contracted throughspores entering open cuts or sores, or by inhalation of spores, while disposingof an elephant carcass. Therefore, after the the burning or burial of anelephant, the mahout should bathe very carefully and he should change to new,clean clothing before entering into contact with other elephants. Wear youroldest clothes, because the clothing must be burnt after the work.

The clinical signs of a person infected by anthrax are highfever, vomiting, and respiratory problems. Some cases have erupting sores and/orboils on hands and arms or wherever the organism has entered. Death can followafter 10-15 days.

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Contagious diseases transmissible toelephants

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Foetal Growth From Observations Of Fixed Foetal Elephant Specimens

As would be expected, the CRL, head, tail and trunk lengths increased with increasing body mass. In some cases where foetuses were of similar mass, the heavier foetus sometimes had shorter crownrump, head, tail and trunk lengths. For example, foetuses EF3 and 4 were of similar mass1.32 and 1.46g, respectivelyyet EF3 was longer in CRL , head length and in tail length . The average length of the hind limbs was always shorter than the average length of the forelimbs, as is observed in adult elephants. Head length was 28% of the CRL of EF1. This increased with age to 55% of EF4 and then decreased with age to plateau at around 4244%.

The Average Age Elephants Reproduce

The age at which elephants can reproduce depends on their population – ages can range from 10 to 22 years old. However, the average age for elephants to have their first offspring is 14 and 15 years old.

Although some elephants are able to have babies at young ages, their offspring survival rate is very low. Young elephant mothers do not have the experience to properly care for their offspring. That is why you see more mature elephants have babies.

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How Long Does A Mother Elephant Carry Her Baby

Elephants are the largest land mammals in the world. There are two species of elephant: the African elephant and the Asian elephant . While the two species live in different places, they have many characteristics in common, including the duration of their pregnancies. But how long are elephants pregnant for? Read this guide to find out!

Developmental Milestones Related To Foetal Age

Sonographic imaging of foetuses of known age, coupled with the description of the gross morphology of foetal specimens with the calculated age according to equation , have allowed the definition of ontogenetic milestones for the elephant during the first 167 days of gestation . On day 46, there was evidence of constrained, oval-shaped fluid accumulation within the uterine lumen detected by ultrasound. However, the typical white enhancement lines were not observed. Only on day 50 of gestation could a clear embryonic vesicle be located and identified by ultrasound scanning. By that time, a spherical fluid-filled embryonic vesicle was visible within the lumen of the uterine horn, close to the uterine body . The embryo itself was initially detected as a small dot in close proximity to the uterine wall on day 62 of gestation. It changed into a more oblong structure by day 74 and was attached to a distinct echogenic round foetal membrane, the presumed yolk sac. The development of the amnion and the allantoic membrane were difficult to visualize. A second more delicate, less echogenic membrane was detected around days 8595, enclosing both the embryo and the yolk sac. The second membrane is presumed to be the allantois.

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Length Of Life Is The Key To Male Reproductive Success

Reproductive success is positively correlated with increasing age. Males attain peak reproduction between 40 and 55 years of age are still reproductively active at age 60, at that age siring as many calves as a 40-year-old male.

Males need size, strength and experience to mate successfully. Young males are usually unsuccessful for several reasons. Copulation is quite complicated for males and successful mounting is a skill that requires experience. A male must learn the proper technique for manipulating his long, curved, mobile penis. The female reproductive tract is also long and curved and a male must first mount the female and then move his penis into the correct position while the female stands still. Females prefer older males and frequently refuse to stand for young males. In addition, young males have much shorter penises than older males and penis size is probably an additional impediment for young males to successfully impregnate females.

In addition, rank among non-musth males is determined by size and strength. A 15-year-old male weighs half that of a 40-year-old male. Large males frequently displace young males when they are competing for access to an estrous female and, if a young male is lucky enough to mount a female, he is most often forced down or knocked off!

How Long Are Elephants Pregnant

Elephants are the largest land mammals in the world. There are two species of elephant: the African elephant and the Asian elephant . While the two species live in different places, they have many characteristics in common, including the duration of their pregnancies. But how long are elephants pregnant for? Read this guide to find out!

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New Mathematical Models For Foetal Growth Using Ultrasound Data

Since the dates of ovulation of SE119 were known, each ultrasound measurement could be assigned a known gestational age. The CRL was an accessible parameter from 62 to 202 days of gestation and ranged from 5.0 to 205.3mm. It became more difficult to measure with increasing growth of the foetus and its varying flexure. BPD could be measured transrectally from 83 to 226 days of gestation, and it ranged from 7.7 to 91.3mm. THD ranged from 10.5 to 88.0mm between days 99 and 240. FL was a parameter that could only be determined later in gestation. It ranged from 6.4 to 58.0mm and could be reliably measured from 119 to 234 days of gestation. Regression models were fitted to the data in order to construct mean curves for age and CRL, BPD, THD and FL . The data were examined to see if the foetal growth rates differed between Asian and African elephants. No significant differences in the slopes or the intercepts were observed between Asian and African elephants =0.091, p=0.947 age with BPD: p=0.405, p=0.751 age with THD: p=0.522, p=0.647 age with FL: p=0.890, p=0.979). Therefore, all subsequent calculations were performed using the combined data for both species. The regression analyses yielded the following equations:

RFpRFpRFp

The relationship between CRL and age is nonlinear, and it can be adequately fitted by a square root function

RFpRFpRFp

Thus, our formulae are accurate up to at least 202±9.7 days .

Understanding Pregnancy For Conservation

Worldwide, elephant populations are dwindling rapidly due to organised crime and the ivory trade. Today, populations remain stable and high in much of Southern Africa, but theres a rising threat in the east, due to poaching.8 Savanna elephants are endangered and forest elephants are critically endangered both appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.9

The problem of declining elephant populations is exacerbated by their reproduction cycles. They have a long gap between calves and unlike other animals usually only have one baby at a time.10

Zoological breeding programs play an important role in elephant conservation, but adult male elephants who are reproductively active can behave unpredictably and sometimes there are problems finding a suitable mate. Consequently, assisted reproduction is sometimes required for successful breeding11 and to do that, its important to understand elephant pregnancies.

For some time, the process that creates such remarkably intelligent animals was something of a mystery. But advances in ultrasound technology over the last couple of decades has meant scientists have been able to take a closer look. One important piece of research was published in 2012, following the study of seventeen African and Asian elephants at zoos in the UK, Canada, the US, Australia, and Germany.12

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Elephant Gestation Period: Quick Facts

An elephants pregnancy begins at the moment of conception. Female elephants are fertile three or four times per year. In the wild, male elephants will fight over a potential mate. In captivity, caretakers work to get female elephants pregnant during their fertilization period.

Once a female elephant is pregnant, the elephant gestation period officially begins. Here are some quick facts about elephant pregnancy:

• Elephant pregnancies typically last around 22 months .

• Elephant pregnancies are the longest of all mammals and one of the longest of all living animals.

• One of the reasons elephant pregnancies are so long is because elephants are big. Due to their size, the development of elephants in the womb is slow.

• Elephants are also highly intelligent. The long elephant gestation period allows the baby elephants brain to properly develop.

How Do Female Sharks Get Pregnant

Where Do Baby Sharks Come From? Shark reproduction happens through internal fertilization in all species of sharks. This is different from most fish, who will send their eggs and sperm into the blue void and pray for the best. Sharks are a K-selected reproducer and produce small numbers of well-developed baby sharks.

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Behaviour And Life History

The African bush elephant can be found in habitats as diverse as dry savannahs, deserts, , and lake shores, and in elevations from sea level to mountains above the snow line. Forest elephants mainly live in equatorial forests but will enter gallery forests and ecotones between forests and savannahs. Asian elephants prefer areas with a mix of grasses, low woody plants, and trees, primarily inhabiting dry thorn-scrub forests in southern India and Sri Lanka and evergreen forests in Malaya. Elephants are herbivorous and will eat leaves, twigs, fruit, bark, grass and roots. They are born with sterile intestines and require bacteria obtained from their mother’s feces to digest vegetation. African elephants are mostly browsers while Asian elephants are mainly grazers. They can consume as much as 150 kg of food and 40 L of water in a day. Elephants tend to stay near water sources. Major feeding bouts take place in the morning, afternoon and night. At midday, elephants rest under trees and may doze off while standing. Sleeping occurs at night while the animal is lying down. Elephants average 34 hours of sleep per day. Both males and family groups typically move 1020 km a day, but distances as far as 90180 km have been recorded in the Etosha region of Namibia. Elephants go on seasonal migrations in search of food, water, minerals, and mates. At Chobe National Park, Botswana, herds travel 325 km to visit the river when the local waterholes dry up.