Blonde By Nature

I have a love/hate relationship with technology and in this case I love it.

Roughly two years ago The Daily Telegraph posted this article on the 4D ultrasound scan technology and it’s ability to reveal natures most powerful imagery - animals in the womb. The story resonated with me so much that I felt like I needed to revive it.

In ‘06, this groundbreaking footage was the first to reveal the developmental stages of a dog, dolphin and elephant fetus. However to obtain the imagery the scientists had to overcome a number of large obstacles, their most challenging being the mother-elephant’s size (they had to go up through the rectum) and 24 hour month gestation period of a calf. In the end it was all worth it as it lead to some pretty cool discoveries:

• A dolphin learns to swim in its mother’s womb at 8 weeks of age
• At one point, a cetacean’s flipper looks like legs and fins look like human hands, suggesting that at one point they walked on land.
• A elephant develops air ducts normally found in freshwater fish but then disappear
• The development of a elephants trunk develops at 16 weeks, and at 1 year, its trunk is longer than its legs
• A canine fetus copies similar behaviour to that of a grown dog while still in the womb - panting with its tongue out

One common feature amongst all examples is that they affirm their evolutionary paths that scientists have been speculating about for years. They also confirm that we humans share a common mammalian ancestry very early in life.

These discoveries were showcased in January’07 by the National Geographic’s In the Womb: Animals. You can buy the DVD here.

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