6 Animals That Are Born Blind And Deaf (With Pictures)
In the animal world there are animals that are experts in adapting their senses to their environment, some are born without eyes and remain so for the rest of their lives, others are born blind, with very poorly developed vital organs, although they later manage to develop vision.
This is understandable, because in all newborn living beings a process of development of the senses has just begun, for example in us humans, although we are born with the vision, we cannot focus our sight on a point beyond 40 centimeters.
Without further ado, here is a list of 6 animals that are born blind.
Squirrels
Squirrels are born with practically all their sensory organs underdeveloped. At birth, squirrels are naked, blind, and deaf. Vibrissas, that are whiskers on the head, on the forearms, and on the stomach, are already present.
The weight is around 8.5 g, the body length is up to 6 cm, the tail length up to 2.5 cm. The ear canals are initially closed, hands and fingers are disproportionately large and long.
On the 6th day the first hairs appear on the head, on the 8th day also on the back. On the 10th day, the relatively long, evenly thick tail is noticeable. On the 13th day a delicate hair fluff can be seen.
From the 20th day the later color distribution can already be seen. The lower incisors erupt at 22-23 days.
kangaroos
Although fully grown kangaroos are mammals of considerable size and fully adapted to their environment, their offspring are born very underdeveloped.
At birth the baby kangaroo is very small, averaging no more than 2 cm in height and weighing about 800 milligrams, and is born naked, blind and deaf.
The gestation period of the kangaroo is one of the shortest in the entire animal kingdom. The gestation time of the kangaroo in the uterus ranges between 28 and 36 days, which is why they are born so underdeveloped.
After birth, kangaroo babies go through another process in their mother’s marsupium, which can last from 5 to 8 months.
Opossums
The opossum belongs to the marsupial species like the kangaroo, opossum offspring are also born very underdeveloped, including being born blind and with very poorly developed organs.
The gestation of the opossum is very similar to that of the kangaroo, usually lasting twelve to fifteen days. Then, the young are born in embryonic form and migrate to the marsupium where they remain for about sixty days.
Once inside, they attach themselves to the mother’s nipples, complete their lactation period, and develop to go outside. By then, they are completely independent and begin their solitary life.
Panda bear
Panda cubs that are born weighing only 100 grams and 15 centimeters long are also among the mammals that are born with very poorly developed organs, totally vulnerable.
They are born blind and with a very large difference in size in relation to the breast of almost a thousand times in size.
The undeveloped birth of the panda bear is especially causing for study and concern by the scientific community, since the panda bear is currently in danger of extinction, and even its reproduction is complicated.
Star-nosed mole
Guess why they call him a star-nosed mole? yes, you guessed it….
Well, of course it is born blind, this mole doesn’t even have a face, it is all nose, in fact, the face of this mole reminds me a lot of a character from a movie called “the faun’s labyrinth”.
The mole’s nose is composed of several appendages that are arranged in such a way that they resemble a star with many points.
For a practically blind animal, it has many exceptional abilities that make up for its lack of vision, a super developed touch with its nose and an incredible sense of smell.
Wolf Cubs
Wolf pups are born totally blind and deaf and will depend on the mother for the first few days for food. In fact, early reproduction is widely used in predatory mammals.
This is beneficial for this type of animal, because this animal depends on hunting and being in constant movement, so a prolonged pregnancy as in other species is not convenient.
Why are some animals born blind?
There are actually few animals in the animal kingdom that are born with this sense undeveloped at all, animals that are born blind, usually for convenience.
This type of animals are called “nidicolous”, they are animals that are born prematurely with developmental reasons, these animals finish developing fully on the outside, attached to their mother, an example of this are the marsupials such as the kangaroo and the opossum.
It is best for the parents of these animals to be born prematurely to take care of the offspring in a second stage, even if their organs are not fully developed.
