2007-06-04 04:04:16 · 7 answers · asked by Miss Jones 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Yes i meant identical
2007-06-04 04:16:04 · update #1
Yes, dog twins do exist, but it's hard to tell unless you are watching the birth and see them sharing the birth "sac". Sheep and cows which usually have one baby per pregnancy, can also have twins, my brother in law lost some of his calves this past winter because they were twins an therefor small and wearer than their single birth counter parts. I have seen many double yolked eggs which if fertilized would be twins(if they could survive being egg mates). Twins is not just a human occurrence, it is just not as readily noticed in the canine world as dogs generally have more than one baby per pregnancy.
2007-06-04 04:18:55 · answer #1 · answered by mysticalviking 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yes. As humans we designate two kinds of twins (triplets, etc.)--Fraternal and Identical. Fraternal twins is simply littermates sharing the same father in the case of cats and dogs. Interestingly, they can also have non-fraternal littermates, because female dogs can be inseminated by more than one sire! Identical twins would be a product of the same biological fluke that we see in humans--the egg and sperm divide into two zygotes before forming the fetus and thus you get two babies from one egg/sperm. They can be identified during birthing by the fact that they share an amniotic sac and placenta.
Perhaps more to your point, however is if these dogs look the same...the answer is *usually not.* Dogs are diploid, so they get a copy of each gene from one parent. It turns out that fur color is interesting in that cells somewhat randomly "choose" which one of these to present. So, if the dogs are of a solid color breed, they will be genetically and visibly identical, however, if they are of a mixed breed or more complex color pattern, they will be genetically identical but almost always have different coats, especially in females, b/c they have two of each gene even sex-linked ones (which many coat factors are)...so a fur cell on the ear of one pup might make black pigment genetically coded by genes inherited from the dad, while the identically located fur cell on the other pup might make the brown pigment coded by genes from the mom.
Here is a link that shows an example of genetically identical twin females with different coats.
http://www.ashgi.org/color/twins.htm
2007-06-04 11:36:28 · answer #2 · answered by pynki 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. There can be and have been 2 pups in a sac. Not very common and not always known since dogs prefer to give birth in private.
Added:
Yes they are still letter mates but its not the same the pups are in the same umbilical sac.
2007-06-04 11:10:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I believe they are called littermates?
Now perhaps you mean Identical twins - yes - but only a genetics test can say for sure.
2007-06-04 11:08:55 · answer #4 · answered by Barbara B 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
some dogs may look the same but just the same as humans
dogs always have a difference even if its a spot!
2007-06-04 11:09:53 · answer #5 · answered by Alice 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋
thats a really good question!! i wish i knew! it would be kool if there was.
2007-06-04 11:08:59 · answer #6 · answered by vbgurl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't think so
2007-06-04 11:07:50 · answer #7 · answered by American Boy 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋