Post by smlmamlgirl on Sept 3, 2005 8:14:13 GMT
Did you know?:
1) Degus are among the most hotly disputed animals on Earth as to their origins and evolution? They are neither rodents nor cavimorphs and really don't have a class at all in North America. They LOOK like rodents and have the constant tooth growing thing, but are diurnal, not nocturnal, can't have sugar, and never stray from veggies. They drop their tales like lizards, but they are warm blooded and it doesn't grow back. They have large broods (like most prey mammals) but more often than not lose them to miscarriage.
2) Degu males can mate for life and can actually die shortly after their female counterparts from depression.
3) The gestation period of rodent young is a third (3 months) of the gestation period of that of a human baby. The reason that human women are pregnant for 9 LONG months is because of the complexity of the foetus being grown. The fact that an animal 1 50th-100th our size has such a long gestation period speaks to the complexity of the animal being grown... in almost all cases, the smaller the animal, the shorter gestation. Even bunnies take 28 days and think of how much bigger they are compared to degus!
4) Again, unlike all prey animals, it takes degus 6 months to a year to become sexually mature, nine months being the most common time frame.
5) Evolutionist or creationist, all will agree that since the start of life on Earth (whenever that was), that life in its various forms has evolved. While degus MUST have evolved (despite the arguments of what from and how) they do not adapt. They do not vary from their dietary needs and intolerance of even moderately changed environments- and yet, they are not extinct.
6) That of their body mass, 85-90% is intestin....which is why they need so much fiber and have such sensitive stomachs.
7) That all the degus in North America (until recently assuming bans have been lifted) come from an original founding ten brought from Chili by a scientist who wanted to do experiments on them. Thus, it is risky buying North American degus because many of their health failings were exacerbated by the experimentation.
Neat-o, hmmmm? I found it all interesting
1) Degus are among the most hotly disputed animals on Earth as to their origins and evolution? They are neither rodents nor cavimorphs and really don't have a class at all in North America. They LOOK like rodents and have the constant tooth growing thing, but are diurnal, not nocturnal, can't have sugar, and never stray from veggies. They drop their tales like lizards, but they are warm blooded and it doesn't grow back. They have large broods (like most prey mammals) but more often than not lose them to miscarriage.
2) Degu males can mate for life and can actually die shortly after their female counterparts from depression.
3) The gestation period of rodent young is a third (3 months) of the gestation period of that of a human baby. The reason that human women are pregnant for 9 LONG months is because of the complexity of the foetus being grown. The fact that an animal 1 50th-100th our size has such a long gestation period speaks to the complexity of the animal being grown... in almost all cases, the smaller the animal, the shorter gestation. Even bunnies take 28 days and think of how much bigger they are compared to degus!
4) Again, unlike all prey animals, it takes degus 6 months to a year to become sexually mature, nine months being the most common time frame.
5) Evolutionist or creationist, all will agree that since the start of life on Earth (whenever that was), that life in its various forms has evolved. While degus MUST have evolved (despite the arguments of what from and how) they do not adapt. They do not vary from their dietary needs and intolerance of even moderately changed environments- and yet, they are not extinct.
6) That of their body mass, 85-90% is intestin....which is why they need so much fiber and have such sensitive stomachs.
7) That all the degus in North America (until recently assuming bans have been lifted) come from an original founding ten brought from Chili by a scientist who wanted to do experiments on them. Thus, it is risky buying North American degus because many of their health failings were exacerbated by the experimentation.
Neat-o, hmmmm? I found it all interesting
