UK Daily Mail
Thursday, November 23, 2006

Using a combination of three-dimensional ultrasound scans, computer graphics and tiny cameras, the team were able to show the entire process from conception to birth.

An elephant foetus taken at 16 weeks. The trunk has developed and it is plumpish towards the rear.

Never seen before: this remarkable image of an unborn elephant, taken approximately six months into the two-year gestation period, was captured using a combination of 3D ultrasound scans and tiny cameras inserted into the mother's womb. They were taken for the National Geographic TV channel, to be shown next year.

Tiny animal kingdom: the elephant foetus at 12 months, when it is 18 inches long and weighs approximately 26 lbs. It can use its trunk, and can curl it right up into its mouth and over its head.

Over just 63 days, the domestic dog foetus will be armed with the tools necessary to survive, including a highly acute sense of smell and the ability to hear sounds far beyond our human range of hearing.

Flipping miracle: at 29 weeks the dolphin is moving its eyes and swimming around the womb. At six weeks it can curl its tail fin around its body

Dog in the womb: at 52 days a full coat of light cream hair is visible with whiskers forming. At 39 days, the eyelids are fused to protect from contamination.

The images were created for the programme Animals In The Womb, a two-hour show to be broadcast on the National Geographic Channel in America next month and on Channel 4 and the National Geographic Channel in the UK next year.