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View Full Version : Do animals have umbilical cords?


EnumaElish
Sep17-05, 12:03 PM
If they do, why can't we find Ms. Mimi's belly button?

matthyaouw
Sep17-05, 12:23 PM
All mammals do according to this: http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/may97/863469598.Zo.r.html

Quite why you can't find (what I presume to be) your cat's, I don't know. Come to think of it, I've never noticed my guinea pigs' either.

gerben
Sep18-05, 02:16 AM
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_001a.html

somasimple
Sep18-05, 03:56 AM
Hi,

Cats, guinea pigs are mammals so they have one. Dolphins have too...

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/

Moonbear
Sep18-05, 09:33 AM
All placental mammals have an umbilical cord during fetal development. You won't find a clear belly button like humans have (it might be more interesting to ask why humans get such a distinct belly button "scar" that other mammals don't get), but there will be a small, usually flat, scar with lighter coloration than the skin around it. Typically it's hidden under fur.

cronxeh
Sep18-05, 10:42 AM
So wait animals dont have to cut an umbilical cord, right? Does it just tear off by itself?

Averagesupernova
Sep18-05, 11:06 AM
Most of the time the cord tears off by itself. Animals that birth standing up will tear the cord on the way out/down. I have seen a litter of kittens where the cords stayed attached to several kittens for what appeared to be a couple of days. They were all wrapped up on various body parts and it was hard to cut them apart.