Do animals have periods?

View image of Eastern elephant shrews (Elephantulus myurus) menstruate (Credit: Klein & Hubert/NPL) It all comes down to how much control the mother animal has over her own womb, according to Deena Emera of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. read more

This period of advertised fertility is known as oestrus, "estrus" or heat. In species that experience estrus, females are generally only receptive to copulation while they are in heat (dolphins are an exception). read more

Animals don't have periods, being in heat is the same as ovulation in humans, but there are more chemical signals that the male can pick up. In the animal world there is no real need for periods, they generally are pregnant after each time they are in heat, so there is no need to get rid of the uterine lining every cycle. read more