K12 Animal Development Times

About Development Times

African elephant cow and calf

Sperm whale cow and calf

Cattle cow and calf

Opossum and pups

The number of days development before birth or hatching in the table below are the typical days value, some individual animals may be shorter or longer by different number of days. Note also that reptile and bird incubation times are affected by the environmental temperature, colder is generally longer.

For the Teacher
I have only asked questions that answers can be found on this page or easily researched. This table can be sorted by either the animal name or by the days development (by clicking the triangles in the column headings). This content is only designed for K12 students to make them think about comparative development and does not cover other developmental topics. More detailed animal information can be found by clicking on the animal pictures on this page. Detailed information, not designed for K12, can be found on the lefthand menu Animals pages. Additional Research Questions (not answered on this page) How many young each animal species can give birth to at once? Which newborn animals are fed milk (mammals) by their mothers?

Questions

Which animals have the shortest and longest development times?
Which is the biggest animal?
Which is the smallest animal?
Which animals live in our homes or on a farm (domestic)?
Which animals live in the wild or seen in zoos?

Animal Development Time
Animal	Average Days
Bear (Black)	210
Bison	270
Budgerigar	18
Camel	410
Cat	65
Cattle	281
Chicken	21
Chimpanzee	236
Chinchilla	111
Coyote	63
Deer (Mule)	200
Deer (Reindeer)	221
Dog	63
Donkey	365
Duck	28
Duck (Muscovy)	35
Echidna	23
Elephant	660
Elk, Wapiti	255
Ferret	42
Finch	14
Fox	52
Giraffe	425
Goat	150
Goose	28
Gorilla	270
Guinea fowl	28
Guinea pig	68
Hare	36
Hippopotamus	240
Horse	338
Human	274
Koala	35
Leopard	95
Lion	108
Llama	350
Marmoset	150
Mink (European)	41
Monkey (Macaque)	180
Moose	240
Mouse	20
Muskox	255
Muskrat	29
Nutria, Coypu	130
Opossum	12
Otter	285
Panther	90
Parrot	26
Pheasant	24
Pig	114
Pigeon	18
Porcupine	210
Pronghorn	230
Quail	16
Rabbit	31
Raccoon	63
Rat	21
Reindeer	225
Rhinoceros (African)	480
Seal	330
Sheep	150
Shrew	20
Skunk	63
Squirrel (Gray)	40
Swan	35
Tapir	390
Tiger	103
Turkey	28
Walrus	450
Whale (Sperm)	450
Wolf	63
Woodchuck	31

Animal Notes and Table Data Sources

Notes

Each animal species has different variations +/- the average values shown in the table.
Gestation is the carrying of an animal embryo or fetus inside a female animal giving live birth.
Incubation is the laying of an egg (birds, reptiles, platypus, echidna) with development occurring outside the female animal.

Historic Embryology
1897 Pig \| 1900 Chicken \| 1901 Lungfish \| 1904 Sand Lizard \| 1905 Rabbit \| 1906 Deer \| 1907 Tarsiers \| 1908 Human \| 1909 Northern Lapwing \| 1909 South American and African Lungfish \| 1910 Salamander \| 1951 Frog \| Embryology History \| Historic Disclaimer

Data Sources

The House Mouse: Atlas of Mouse Development by Theiler Springer-Verlag, NY (1972, 1989).
The Genetics of the Dog. E Ostrander, E. and Ruvinsky, A. ISBN: 9781845939403 (2012)
Merck Veterinary Manual. Aiello, S.E. and Moses, M.A. (ed) ISBN: 0911910506 (2013) Online
Witschi, E. (1962) Development: Rat. In: Growth Including Reproduction and Morphological Development. Altman, P. L. , and D. S. Dittmer, ed. Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol., Washington DC, pp. 304-314.

Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, June 3) Embryology K12 Animal Development Times. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/K12_Animal_Development_Times

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