Exceptional Dads: Male Sea horses who give birth!

Yes, it is true!! The males of the Sea horse (Hippocampus) and their close related species can become pregnant, carry their off springs and give birth to cute little young ones. Thus, getting the tag of " The Exceptional dads" in the entire animal kingdom.

Their reproductive cycles starts in February and mostly ends by October. It involves an activity called courtship dance where a male and female intertwine their tails and swim together, this ends in female depositing eggs in the male sea horse's pouch. Here the pregnancy cycle starts and lasts around15 to 25 days. The father ensures that fetus receives enough oxygen in its pouch and takes care of them. After this period the male sea horses undergo painful muscular contractions similar to human mothers and give out hundreds of tiny lives into their totally blue yet colorful world. Since they do not belong to mammals category, are not able to feed their new born. Due to this reason their kids are prone to predators and other dangers. But it is painful to see that the population of such astounding creatures is becoming reduced gradually across globe and we must strive to save them from extinction.

A dad in this species does not teach its kid to do homework nor plays with them, but takes care of them inside its pouch and gives birth. Isn't it a wonder of nature?!!

Image courtesy: Wikipedia (Google)