Bruce Robison of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute told Radiolab that Octomom guarded one clutch of about 160 eggs for roughly four and a half years. His team first saw her in April 2007 and found her on the eggs about a month later. Robison confirmed it is the longest brooding period recorded for any animal on Earth.
Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Radiolab (2026-10-23). Read the whole episode summary →