{{ Question() }}

Were you paying attention?

Results

You had {{ customData.correctAnswers }} of {{ customData.totalAnswers }} correct

<<

Do you ever feel like it takes forever to grow up? When are you really grown up, anyway? Most people won’t get much taller after the age of 18. But did you know the human brain doesn’t finish maturing until a person is in his or her mid-20s?

Out of the Nest

What about animals? Do any take longer than humans to fully mature? Click on the animals below to find out.

Click here after you’ve looked at all four

Click here after you’ve looked at all four

Click here after you’ve looked at all four

X

Rabbits: Bunnies grow up fast. They leave the nest when they are three weeks old and about the size of chipmunks. See a tiny, fuzzy, hopping rabbit with its eyes open and ears standing up? It looks cute and helpless. But it can actually live on its own. Medium and large breed rabbits are ready to become parents at around just four months of age! 

Elephants: Newborn elephants weigh about 220 pounds. They nurse for about six months. African elephants are ready to become parents between the ages of 10 and 12 years. Asian elephants aren’t ready until close to 14. Around that time, male elephants leave the herd they were born into. Females stay with their herds for their entire lives. Males stop growing between 35 and 40 years.

Giraffes: A baby giraffe stays in its mom’s belly for about 14 months. The calf is born feet first while the mother stands up. Head, neck, and shoulders come next. The calf tumbles more than five feet to the ground. About an hour later, it can walk. A week later, it can eat plants. Later, mom giraffes leave their calves with a babysitter (another giraffe mom). The calves learn and play together. Giraffes nurse until they are between six and nine months old. They grow to their full height around four years old. They keep gaining weight until they’re seven or eight.

Butterflies: Bunnies don’t quite win the race to adulthood. Butterflies are faster. Monarchs lay a teeny egg on a plant. In four days, the egg hatches. Now it’s grow-time. In the larval stage, monarchs eat until they outgrow their skin. New skin grows, and the monarch has become a caterpillar. Eventually, the monarch forms a chrysalis, changes, and then emerges as a full- grown butterfly. The whole process takes about a month.