This Animal Can Pause Its Pregnancy For A Record Period

By: EjazUlHaqBhat

Image: Pexels

The tammar wallaby holds the record for the longest pregnancy pause, with the ability to put its embryos on hold for up to 11 months

Image: Pexels

The main advantage of pausing pregnancy is that it separates mating and birth

Image: Pexels

Tammar wallabies have thick, dark grey-brown fur, with reddish-brown on their limbs and sides

Image: Pexels

They live in scrub habitats, and dense coastal heath in Western and Southern Australia

Image: Pexels

The tammar wallaby pauses the development of a backup embryo to allow its older sibling to grow

Image: Pexels

Changes in day length during the Australian summer trigger the restarting of the embryo's development

Image: Pexels

It adopts two methods (suckling in the first half of the year, short days in the second) to pause for almost a year and give birth in January

Image: Pexels

This ensures the young leave the pouch the following spring instead in the middle of a hot Australian summer

Image: Pexels

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