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Rare twin elephants born in Thailand
- helsinkiandrew 2y ago> Dramatic footage on social media showed a crowd of caretakers Includes an interview with caretakers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQnCJYqlB3c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQnCJYqlB3c
- wiradikusuma 2y ago> The second birth sent the mother into a panic and caretakers had to restrain her to prevent her from stepping on the female calf And the mother might not have enough milk to feed more than one (according to video). I guess it's nature's cruel way of ensuring "one healthy successor instead of 2 weak ones that might end up eaten by lions").
- dghughes 2y agoIt makes me wonder is that why human woman have two breasts? In case of twins or human twin births used to be more common? edit: It seems elephants also have two nipples. I had to Google "how many nipples do elephants have" this is my life.
- DFHippie 2y agoI'm thinking it's bilateral symmetry.
- kseistrup 2y agoA woman with just one breast over the breast plate would also be bilaterally symmetric. Although, the heart, the lungs, the liver, the stomach, the intestines, and probably more, are all bilaterally asymmetric, so it would seem there are no rules that demand symmetry.
- DFHippie 2y agoIf we all had one nipple, we would have had to have evolved from a species with an even number nipples, which likely means one nipple migrating to the center like a founder's eyes. All of those things we have one of we've had one of forever. Going from an even number of things to an odd number would be a strange trick seldom practiced.
- alhaad 2y agoTwin elephants rarely survive in the wild. Elephant mothers have difficulty producing enough milk for two calves.
- munchler 2y ago> Twins occur in only one percent of elephant births and male-female are even more rare, according to Save the Elephants, a research organisation. 1% is "rare", I guess, but I'm not sure exactly why it's newsworthy. About 3% of human births are twins, so twin elephant births aren't much rarer.
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