I recently saw a video of an elephant being born and it immediately got up and attempted to walk. It was fairly successful too.
In: Biology
Many mammals are born fairly well-developed. They have long gestations so that they can develop a lot within the womb, and come out able to quickly walk and fend for themselves reasonably well.
Humans, on the other hand, have to be born a little less developed. The reason for this is our big, powerful brains. They need a big head to fit in. And a big head is difficult, painful, and dangerous to give birth to. We give birth to our babies a little earlier (relatively) in development – they’re small, with underdeveloped skulls and no ability to take care of themselves…. but at least they still have squishy heads that can fit through a birth canal. It takes many months more of growth and care for human babies to develop enough to take those first steps.
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