The shortest known gestation is that of the Virginian opossum, about 12 days, and the longest that of the Indian elephant, about 22 months. In the course of evolution the duration of gestation has become adapted to the needs of the species.
James Elgin Gill was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on May 20, 1987, around 128 days early or 21 weeks gestation. He set a record when he was born for the world's most premature baby.
The longest recorded human pregnancy was 375 days, or just over 12 and a half months, according to Guinness World Records. During this pregnancy, a woman named Beulah Hunter gave birth to a healthy baby girl in 1945.
OPOSSUM: 12-13 DAYS
Blink and you'll miss it: This is the shortest gestation period of any mammal in North America. But since the lifespan of an opossum is only two to four years, it makes sense.
Elephants have the longest pregnancies of all mammals.
Seahorses and their close relatives, sea dragons, are the only species in which the male gets pregnant and gives birth. Male seahorses and sea dragons get pregnant and bear young—a unique adaptation in the animal kingdom. Seahorses are members of the pipefish family.
Gorilla moms have a roughly 8.5-month long gestation period, and infants weight about 1.4 – 1.8 kg (4 lb) when they're born. That's half the weight of the average human infant! However, gorillas grow faster and reach maturity around 12 years old.
Nine months may seems like a long time to be pregnant, but did you know that elephants have a gestation period of 624 days? That's about 21 months.
Watch: Tourists In US Get To Witness Whale Giving Birth In Rare, Once-In-A-Lifetime Event.
The oldest recorded mother to date to conceive was 73 years, while the youngest mother was 5 years old. According to statistics from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, in the UK more than 20 babies are born to women over age 50 per year through in-vitro fertilization with the use of donor oocytes (eggs).
One study estimated a woman can have around 15-30 children in a lifetime, taking pregnancy and recovery time into account. Since men require less time and fewer resources to have kids, the most "prolific" fathers today can have up to about 200 children.
Most pregnancies last 37 to 42 weeks, but some take longer. If your pregnancy lasts more than 42 weeks, it is called post-term (past due). This happens in a small number of pregnancies. While there are some risks in a post-term pregnancy, most post-term babies are born healthy.
Guinness World Records officially named Curtis Means, born at 21 weeks and one day at UAB Hospital, the most premature infant to survive.
Cheyenne, who has dark hair and blue-green eyes, isn't the smallest baby ever born. That honor rests with Kwek Yu Xuan, who was born at 7.5 ounces — the weight of an apple — in June 2020 in Singapore.
Freya Minter is the youngest baby on record to walk!
Freya Minter was six months old when she took her first steps, leaving the rest of her age bracket in the dust.
The spiny dogfish shark can carry young for about two years, while basking sharks can do so for as long as three years. The frilled shark can wait 3.5 years before giving birth.
Share: Elephants have the longest pregnancy period of any living mammal. If you – or someone you know – has experienced a pregnancy that seemed to go on forever, spare a thought for the elephant.
Shark pregnancy
Reproduction in sharks is equally varied: some lay eggs, but most give birth to live young. Sharks typically give birth after 11–12 months of pregnancy, but some, such as the frilled shark, are pregnant for more than three years.
A hamster can have babies in as little as 16 days!
The hamster has the shortest gestation period followed by the mouse and the meadow mouse.
– A dog pregnancy can vary between 56 – 70 days. Typically, puppies should arrive about 63 days (just over 2 months) after conception.
A healthy giraffe gestation can last from 14 to 16 months. Bailey's last pregnancy was one day shy of 15 months (457 days) long.
Abstract. The length of the gestation period in 118 births in a colony of chimpanzees was found to be 226.8 days, with a standard deviation of 13.3 and a range of 196 to 260 days.
A film of the birth of a chimpanzee has shown that the animals give birth in a way that was thought to be unique to humans. A team shot close-up footage of captive chimps giving birth, which revealed that the newborn emerges from the birth canal facing away from the mother.