![]() ![]() ![]() For example, a tammar wallaby mother could be suckling an older joey from one nipple and an infant joey still in her pouch from another nipple, and she can produce two different milks for each of them. Many marsupials, or pouched mammals, like tammar wallabies also have a unique way of controlling what goes into their milk depending on the ages of their young. The reasons for this difference are still under investigation, but one idea is that the milk oligosaccharides may serve an anti-microbial purpose in a developing joey’s gut. However, milk of the tammar wallabies has very little lactose in it, and instead consists of high levels of other complex sugars called oligosaccharides. The predominant sugar in human milk is lactose-a sugar that breaks down into glucose and galactose. The types of sugars in their milk are different, too. Their milk contains about 14 percent sugar, double the amount present in human milk and one of the highest levels among mammals. Tammar wallabies, found in southern and western Australia, produce sugar-rich milk for their joeys. Tammar Wallabies ( Macropus eugenii) Wayne Lynch/All Canada Photos/Corbis ![]() “That’s probably the reason why we see such low fat in the black rhinoceros milk.” “And that makes sense, because if a female were lactating for a few years and really investing in putting a lot of nutrients into her milk, that’s not really sustainable over a long period of time,” Skibiel says. ![]() In a 2013 study, Skibiel’s team found that species that lactate for longer durations tend to have lower fat and proteins in their milk. Then they spend a considerable amount of time-almost two years-nursing their young. They have long pregnancies that last for over a year, and they give birth to one calf at a time. Black rhinoceroses become capable of reproducing only once they reach four to five years old. This dilute milk may have something to do with the animals' slow reproductive cycle. A rhino mom produces milk that is watery and has only about 0.2 percent fat. The high-fat diet helps the pups put on a thick layer of blubber that serves to insulate their bodies against the harsh, cold environment, says Amy Skibiel, a lactation expert at the University of Florida.īlack Rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis) JMWScout/iStockīy contrast, the black rhinoceros has the skimmest milk on the fat spectrum. By the time they are weaned, they are almost double in weight, researchers have found. So the mother seal feeds her pups for only four days, packing a lot of energy-dense fat into her milk.ĭuring this super-short nursing period, the pups can consume about 16.6 pounds of milk every day. Seal mothers give birth to pups on floating ice, an environment that is both unstable and unreliable. Such a high-fat diet is crucial for the seal pups, because these animals are born into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. But with more than 60 percent fat, hooded seal milk would rival some of the richest Häagen-Dazs ice creams out there. Human breastmilk has about three to five percent fat in it. Hooded seal mothers produce the fattiest known milk. Hooded seals ( Cystophora cristata) JORGE ZAPATA/epa/Corbis Here are some examples of the most extreme milks found in nature: Figuring out how and why milk differs across species can help scientists better understand how human breastmilk influences infant development and growth, which can be especially useful for designing supplemental formulas for babies. All mammals produce milk, and each mammalian species produces its own special blend best suited for its babies. It also contains a cocktail of protective factors that help vulnerable babies fight off harmful microbes.īreastmilk is not a uniquely human feature. A mother’s breastmilk contains a concoction of nutrients-mainly fats, proteins and carbohydrates-essential for a baby’s development. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |