Did you know that seahorses have a very strange way of reproducing? When the time comes for mating, the female lays her eggs in the male's abdominal pouch, where they are fertilized and develop. It turns out that in seahorses, males bear offspring, not females. The Surinamese pipa also came up with an unusual way of bearing children – this tropical toad carries eggs inside many holes on its back, from which tiny cubs then crawl out. There are many species of animals in the world with unusual ways of reproducing and bearing children. Baby white sharks, blue whales and other famous animals may be born in unexpected ways, but scientists have never seen them give birth. The reproduction of these and other creatures is still a big mystery to science.
Surprisingly, no one has ever seen white sharks give birth
Contents
- 1 How white sharks reproduce
- 2 How whale sharks are born
- 3 Reproduction blue whales
- 4 Saola – a rare and elusive animal
- 5 How snow leopard cubs are born
How white sharks reproduce
White shark– This is one of the largest fish in the world, which lives in all the oceans of our planet. They are among the sharks that kill people and are on the verge of extinction. According to scientists, the number of white sharks in the world is only about 3,500 individuals.
White sharks are on the verge of extinction and may someday disappear. image source: shutterstock.com
There are very few white sharks, and they swim in the waters of vast oceans. Because of this, scientists have never been able to see how female white sharks give birth to cubs. Sharks, depending on the species, can give birth to children either by laying eggs or by viviparity. Only 30% of all shark species are oviparous, the rest are viviparous or ovoviviparous.
Eggs of different species of sharks. Image source: yaplakal.com
In 2024, scientists saw a baby great white shark for the first time, and they didn't quite see it through. An unmanned aerial vehicle managed to film a 1.5-meter-long white shark. The body length of adult white sharks exceeds 4.5 meters, so the researchers decided that this was a baby. A white trail trailed behind the small specimen – perhaps it was intrauterine substances. But there is also speculation that it is simply a shark with a skin disease. In general, there is nothing concrete, everything is very confusing.
Perhaps this is a newborn white shark
Read also: In what seas and in which resorts in the world are there sharks that kill tourists?
How whale sharks are born
An even larger fish is the whale shark – representatives of this species can reach 20 meters in length and weigh 20 tons.
Throughout history, scientists have observed 20 newborn whale sharks, but how were they born? nobody has seen. In 2018, researchers tried to examine the bodies of females with swollen bellies using ultrasound, but they found nothing except ovaries and unfertilized eggs.
Whale shark. Image source: involta.media
It is believed that whale sharks breed in the Ningaloo coral reef area off the coast of Australia. Scientists would be happy to observe this process, but predators often dive to a depth of 2000 meters, where even modern devices cannot see. So the reproduction of whale sharks is another mystery for science.
Reproduction of blue whales
Scientists also know nothing about how blue whales, the largest animals that have ever lived on Earth, give birth. The researchers were most able to observe how huge whales feed their 2,700-kilogram babies. And National Geographic cameramen once filmed an adult blue whale swimming next to its calf.
The blue whale and its calf
Read also: The remains of an ancient giant weighing 180 tons – the blue whale is no longer the largest animal?
Saola is a rare and elusive animal
What are we all about sharks and whales? Animals also live on land, the birth of which remains a big mystery to scientists. For example, Vietnam is home to the extremely elusive artiodactyl creatures calledsaols, also known as Asian unicorns. They are so secretive and rare that they were only discovered in 1992.
Asian unicorn saola. Image source: zoopicture.ru
Scientists can only observe these creatures using hidden cameras because they are very timid creatures that live in the depths of forests. Few people have seen them live, much less watched the birth of their cubs.
Article on the topic:The most invisible animals in the world – try to find them in photographs
How snow leopard cubs are born
Surprisingly, scientists have never observed the birth of snow leopards in the wild. It was possible to find out how they bear and give birth to children only after they were captured and sent to the zoo. It is impossible to keep track of them in the wild because they live in remote corners of the snow-capped mountains. In addition, they are perfectly camouflaged against the background of rocks, using patterns on the body.
Snow leopard with a cub. Image source: vladgazeta.online
It was only in 2012 that members of the Snow Leopard Trust managed to track leopards using sensors on their collars. Following their trail, they were able to film two cubs of predatory cats.
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Of course, these are not all animals, the reproduction of which we still know nothing about. For example, in the depths of the oceans live 14-meter squids, which we will not be able to see live for a long time – they live too deep. You can read more about them in our material “The largest squid in the world reaches 14 meters in length.”