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Q&A

Where are all the non-aquatic mouthbrooders?

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Some fish mouthbrood. Some amphibians mouthbrood. Crocodilians carry their babies in their mouths to water. Is there a reason why there are no instances (that I know of) of terrestrial animals that mouthbrood?

Why can't there be pelican babies in pelican beaks or chipmunk babies in chipmunk cheeks?

EDIT: I want to have plausible mouthbrooding terrestrial creatures, but worry there might be some glaring misadvantage that I am missing to having that trait in a terrestrial creature. The world of these creatures would be much like our own. The basic picture, for a big branch of terrestrial animals, would be a throat pouch where babies would grow until fully ambulatory. For the more primate-like animals, the baby would be held to rest against their chest, much like we front carry our babies with baby slings, leaving the parents' forelimbs free to swing from one treebranch to the next. Is that too ridiculous?

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This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/150317. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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