One new baby is a handful — but what about two or more? One in 30 parents have their hands full with twins, and nearly one in 10,000 juggle triplets or more, according to U.S. data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . But how unusual is humans’ ability to bear multiple young at once, and how often do other mammals have twins, triplets and quadruplets? In many animals, multiple babies are the norm rather than the exception. For example, the average dog gives birth to five puppies in a litter, according to a 2011 study published in the journal Theriogenology . So, what’s the difference between a litter and twins? “It really just comes down to number,” said Charles Long, a reproductive physiologist at Texas A&M University. Whereas a set of twins is by definition two babies, litter-bearing animals almost always have more. Related: Why pregnancy really lasts 9 months A female animal has a litter when she releases multiple eggs. When fertilized, these eggs produce multiple embryos. (Identical twins are the exception — but we’ll get to that later.) When a woman releases two eggs, we call the resulting offspring fraternal or non-identical twins. (Three eggs… Read full this story
- “Three Identical Strangers”: Don’t Read This Review, Just Go See the Movie
- 'Three Identical Strangers': The Shocking Tale of a Study That Separated Triplets at Birth
- Single mum’s IVF quest for kids led to twins — born THREE YEARS apart
- Twins killed together during World War II finally reunited after 74 years
- These triplets were separated at birth for a twisted experiment
- Fake ‘Miracle’ Exposed: Birth Of Quadruplets To Delta Billionaire, Moses Taiga, Never Happened
- Review: The Surreal, Heartbreaking Case of ‘Three Identical Strangers’
- 'Three Identical Strangers': How triplets separated at birth became the craziest doc of 2018
- After years of infertility, Delta couple give birth to triplets
- Documentary tells dark tale of triplets separated at birth as part of study, and surviving pair want transparency
Can animals give birth to identical twins, triplets or even quadruplets? have 319 words, post on www.livescience.com at March 7, 2021. This is cached page on CuBird. If you want remove this page, please contact us.