The reproductive system of kangaroos is quite different from that of
other mammals. The kangaroo embryo goes through some stages outside
the womb, which normally occur in the womb.
Soon after fertilization, the blindkangaroo offspring, which is
approximately a centimeter, comes into the world. Usually, only one is
born at a time. At this stage, it is called "neonate." While all
mammals go through this stage in the mother's womb, the kangaroo
offspring comes into the world when it is only one centimeter long. It
has still not developed: its fore feet are indefinite and its hind
feet are comprised of small projections.
No doubt, the offspring cannot leave its mother in such a state.
Coming out of the womb, the neonate starts to move up in its mother's
fur with its fore legs and reaches to its mother's pouch after a
three-minute journey. To the little kangaroo, the pouch means the same
as the womb means to other mammals. Yet, there is an important
difference. While others come into the world as babies, the kangaroo
is merely an embryo when it comes out ofthe womb. Its feet, face and
many other organs have not yet taken their final shapes.
The offspring reaching the mother's pouch attaches itself to one of
the four nipples there, and starts to suckle.
At this stage, the mother goes through another ovulation period and a
new egg forms in its womb. The female copulates once more and the new
egg is fertilized.
This time the egg does not start to develop immediately. If drought
rages in Middle Australia, as is often the case, the fertilized egg in
the womb remains undeveloped until the drought is over. If, however,
heavy rains fall and if there are rich pastures available, then the
development of the egg restarts.
At this stage, we are faced with the question: who makes this
calculation; who arranges the development of the egg according to the
conditions outside? The egg cannot by any means make this arrangement
itself; it is not a complete living being, it has no consciousness,
and it is totally unaware of the weather conditions outside. The
mother cannot make this arrangement, because, like all other living
things, it has no control over the developments taking place in its
body. This extraordinary event is definitely controlled by God, Who
has created both the egg and the mother.
When weather conditions are convenient, thirty-three days after
fertilization, the new neonate, only as big as a bean, creeps up from
the mouth of thewomb and reaches the pouch just like its sibling did.
In the meantime, the first neonate in the pouch has grownconsiderably.
It leads its life without doing any harm to its sibling, which is only
one centimeter long. When it is 190 days old, it has grown mature
enough to make its first journey outside the pouch. From then on, it
starts to spend most of its time outside the pouch and leaves the
pouch for good on the 235th day after its birth.
Soon after the birth of its secondoffspring, the female copulates
again. Consequently, the female has three offspring all dependent on
her. The first can feed on grass but occasionally comes back to its
mother to suckle; the second younger offspring is still developing by
suckling; the third is the neonate, which is the youngest.
What is more astonishing than that all three offspring, each in
adifferent stage of development, are dependent on the mother, isthat
all three offspring are fed by different types of milk according to
their sizes.
While the milk the offspring suckles as soon as it reaches the nipple
in the pouch is transparent and colorless, it increasingly turns
whiter and starts to look like real milk. The amount of fat and other
ingredients in the milk increasesin parallel with the developmentof
the baby.
As this young one keeps on suckling the milk prepared for its own
needs, a more easily digestible milk issues from the nipple that the
second baby reaches. Thus, the body of the mother simultaneously
produces two types of milk withdifferent ingredients. When the third
is born, the number of milktypes produced with different ingredients
becomes three: highly nutritious milk for the older, and relatively
less fatty and nutritious types of milk for the younger. Another point
to note here is that each offspring finds the nipple specially
prepared for itself. Otherwise, it would suckle milk with an
ingredient likely to be harmful to its body, and the milk it suckles
would harm it.
This feeding system is very remarkable and it is obviously a special
product of creation. The mother cannot, by any means, arrange all
these consciously. How can an animal specify the ingredients of milk
needed by itsyoung of different sizes? Even if it did, how could it
produce it in its own body? How could it distribute these through
three different channels?
Doubtless, the kangaroo is not capable of doing any of these. It is
not even aware that the milk delivered by its body is of three
different types. This wonderful process is unquestionably an outcome
of the created nature of this animal.
'' Our Lord ! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire '' [Ameen]
-
{in Arab} :->
Rabbanaa aatinaa fid-dunyaa hasanatan wafil aakhirati hasanatan waqinaa 'athaaban-naar/-
(Surah Al-Baqarah ,verse 201)
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