A Little Bit More
How many of us have found an “abandoned” baby mammal and tried to feed it? We knew it needed milk, but it never occurred to us that not just any kind of milk would do. As a result, we probably watched our baby slowly slip away despite our best attempts of doing the “right thing”. As the poster points out, each species has its own milk that is specially “formulated” for the needs of its young – one size doesn’t fit all!
Just to give you an idea how difficult it can be to even approximate a given species’ milk, let’s look at human formula. Over the years an enormous amount of scientific effort has been made to create a human infant formula that comes close to human milk. As of this writing, typical human formula has about 65 different ingredients in it and every so often, as we learn more, another ingredient is added. If we look at human milk, and add up the “known” ingredients in it, we come up with perhaps 1000 different substances that are present – and those are just the known ingredients! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that the two are far apart.
So, if you’re tempted to raise a baby mammal using milk that isn’t from its own species, be aware that you’re on shaky ground. Granted there are formulas that are available for baby dogs, cats, and horses, but mother’s milk is by far the best choice every time.
Activities
Science – Did You Know?
Objectives: Better understanding of mammals
Materials: none
Here are some interesting and surprising facts about milk that you may want to discuss with your students. As you might expect, lactation (production of milk) is best understood in cows but is receiving more and more research attention in humans.
- Milk is alive — milk is full of living cells that provide important immunities to a baby, as well as, a variety of micronutrients important to its normal development
- Milk is enough — all a baby mammal needs is its mother’s milk in the beginning. All of the nutrition and liquid a baby needs for normal, healthy growth is contained in mother’s milk; nothing else is needed
- Babies can do it — As long as the natural sequence from birth to nursing is not broken, a baby can nurse on its own and doesn’t require “help” from its mother - this is true for humans too
- Over time — as a baby grows, its mother’s milk changes in quality (more caloric value and greater immunological properties) to reflect the increasing needs of the baby
- Milk quantity — with humans, milk production doesn’t increase in quantity as the baby grows, the baby is simply better and better able to utilize what it gets. This is probably true with other mammals too. It is the baby itself that dictates the amount of milk produced with its “demand” on its mother.
- Milk creation — milk is produced directly from the mother’s blood. When the baby is in the mother’s body, all of its needs are transported to it via its mother’s blood and once it is born, its mother’s blood continues to be the source of the baby’ nutrition.
Since the fat content of milk is something we’re all aware of (ie. whole milk vs. skim milk), here are a few facts about milk fat that you may find interesting –
True seals and whales have the highest milk fat levels, averaging 40 to 50 percent!
Whole cow milk has a fat content of about 3.25%
Human milk is roughly 4% fat.
A big difference depending on the lifestyle of mother and baby.
Key Concepts
Adaptations and Diversity, Growth and Development
Questions
Do you have a question for a naturalist? Go ahead and ask!
It's easy -- just fill out this form, submit your question and you'll receive an answer shortly.