Altricial – Adjective
describing a baby animal that is born very helpless, unable to move/feed
itself, often hairless/featherless and blind.
Born – When a baby
comes directly out of its mother's body, like puppies do, we say it is
"born."
Dimorphism – Coming in
two recognizably different types, of form or color, especially male and female.
Egg – A lumpy
thing a mother animal lays and a baby animal comes from. Some animals lay eggs
in water: those eggs are usually soft and are often in big gobs. Other animals
lay eggs on land: those eggs have shells, some hard like glass, some tough like
leather.
Nest – A place an
animal builds with grass, leaves or dirt where the animal can sleep or lay eggs
and take care of babies.
Female – A scientific
word for "girl" or "woman," including girl animals and even
girl plants.
Gestation – The
development of a baby in a mother animal's womb, especially of mammals and
especially used in connection with stating how long this takes (gestation
period).
Hatch(ed) – When a baby
animal comes out of an egg, we can say that "the egg hatches" or
"the baby hatches" (or "is hatched").
Male – A scientific
word for "boy" or "man," including boy animals and even boy
plants.
Metamorphosis – The process
of changing from one form to another as an animal grows up, e.g., caterpillars
becoming butterflies and tadpoles becoming frogs.
Phase – A stage in
the life of an animal that metamorphoses. Also, a term used for different
patterns of animals (especially birds) that are usually one color pattern but
occasionally show up in other colors, e.g., a "white-phased reddish
egret."
Precocial – Adjective
describing baby that can see and move on its own shortly after birth, with
hair/feathers to keep it warm, though often requiring parental protection,
feeding and teaching for weeks or months longer before striking out on its own.