Question

Which animal has the longest gestation period?
a. Shark
b. Walrus
c. Elephant
d. Dog

Answer 1

Hint: Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of embryo or fetus, inside the animals, especially viviparous animals, and it is very typical in mammals, but we can see gestation in some non-mammals also.

Complete answer:
- Mammals during their pregnancy normally can have one or more gestations at a time, if they are able to give multiple births.
- Generally, gestation begins with the zygote formation in the uterus of the females and they end when the fetus leaves the uterus.
- When coming to some animals, that too mammals, no other animal waits as long as the elephant gives the birth.
- As we know that the elephant is the largest land animal, and they also have the biggest brains, and for the elephant, it takes time to give the baby, which weighs approximately 230 pounds.
- The average gestation period of the elephant is about 640 to 660 days and one can say it is approximately or roughly 95 weeks which means it is very nearly 2 years, and it is the longest gestation period one can consider in the animal kingdom.
- Though some species of the shark, also has long gestation periods, only certain species not all sharks, example for this basking shark can carry it’s young for almost 3 years, while another species is frilled shark has a gestation period of three and half years, as in the option, they generally mention shark so it is the wrong option and the dog’s gestation period is 58 to 65 days and the walrus gestation period is 15 to 16 months.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: In the humans, the period of time taken for a baby to grow in the womb and to come out of the womb, and this period is gestation, which last an average of 280 days, or it is approximately 40 weeks, and one can say also as 9 months.