[Animals] One of the wonders of creatures .. 10 types of animals that are not mammals, but they breastfeed their young

[SnO]

Not only are these types of milk rich in nutrients, but some even contain ingredients that help the little ones fight infection or build up their gut microbiome, just like mammalian milk.

 

 

Although we usually think of milk as the lactose-containing fluid secreted from mammary glands, scientists have discovered that it's not just mammals that "make milk," according to a report by Kristina Szalinsky at Discover Magazine. magazine).

Many species give their babies support by making their own milk-like substances. Not only are these milk-like varieties rich in nutrients, but some contain ingredients that help the little ones fight infection or build up their gut microbiome, just like mammalian milk, proof that the animal world still has many surprises in store for it.

1- The bathroom
Both female and male pigeons produce a white, nutritious liquid from the food storage sac in their throats (the crop). Their chicks only eat this "crop milk" for the first three days after hatching, then the adults start feeding the young.

Although the young continue to get crop milk until they reach the age of about 28 days, it - as is the case with mammalian milk - scientists found that crop milk contains antibodies from the parents, activates genes involved in the immune system, and contributes to the formation of the microbiome. The intestines, and the hormone that stimulates milk production in female mammals, called prolactin, is also what stimulates milk production in both male and female pigeons.

Both female and male pigeons produce a white, nutritious fluid from the food-storage sac in their throats (Shutterstock)
2- The Emperor Penguin
For emperor penguins in Antarctica, it is the males who spend the harsh winter incubating the egg, and they also make a fatty liquid in their crops, and they also cud up the crop milk to feed their young, while the females do not make milk, but rather bring food to kids instead.

3- Flamingo
Flamingos - male and female - also make crop milk, and regurgitate it in the mouths of their chicks for up to 6 months. The crop milk is characterized by a bright red color due to the presence of red-colored antioxidants called canthaxanthin, which also helps the chicks turn from white to pink. , While mother flamingos lose their pink color and become whiter during the breeding season due to giving nutrients to the chicks.

Flamingos - male and female - also make crop milk, and regurgitate it in the mouths of their chicks (Shutterstock)
4- The tsetse fly
Tsetse flies are stinging insects that can spread a parasite organism that causes sleeping sickness in humans. Unlike most insects, the fly gives birth to its young. The larva develops inside the uterus of the female tsetse fly, which contains glands that secrete a milk-like substance to support the larva. As with mammalian milk, the nutritional properties of this "milk" change as the larva grows.

5- The Pacific cockroach looks like a beetle
Cockroach larvae, such as the tsetse fly, grow inside their mothers' bodies, feeding on a liquid that scientists say is one of the most calorie-dense "milk" on the planet.

The larva develops inside the uterus of the female tsetse fly, which contains glands that secrete a milk-like substance (Shutterstock)
6- Jumping spiders
Female jumping spiders that live in Southeast Asia make a nutritious substance for their young that they feed on to survive, as the spiders wrap around their mother like a group of puppies to feed on this "milk", which contains four times more protein than cow's milk, and feeds it for a long time Approximately 20 days, then begins to hunt for food on its own.

7- Disc thickness
Colorful Amazonian discus make milk-like mucus to feed their young, and both parents produce the sticky mucus from their skins, which is not only rich in nutrients, but also contains beneficial bacteria that inhabit and establish the gut microbiome of the fry, which feed on nothing else until 3 weeks of age Then the parents start swimming away for longer and longer periods so that the young fish can explore other foods, such as algae and small worms.

8 - legless
Legless are tropical amphibians that look like large worms or sticky snakes, which give birth to some types and eat the young that grow inside the mother the cells lining the uterine tube, but in other types of legless, the outer layer of the mother's skin turns into a meal rich in nutrients for the offspring, peeling off to eat The young have special teeth, and although it is not liquid, it performs a function similar to milk.

9- Great white sharks
Young great white sharks grow inside the mother's womb, but since they do not have an umbilical cord to obtain nutrients like mammals, the uterus secretes a milky substance that the young feed on before birth (some types of sharks have an umbilical cord).

Colorful Amazonian discus fish make milk-like mucus to feed their young (Shutterstock)
10- Roundworms
Roundworms are microscopic roundworms that live in the soil. They do not have a heart or blood, and their entire body contains only about a thousand cells (the human body contains about 30 trillion cells). However, scientists discovered in 2020 that one species of these nematodes, Caenorhabditis elegans, secretes a nutritious lipoprotein to help its offspring grow, and during the process of making this rich food, the bodies of nematode mothers are damaged and die in support of their young.

 

https://www.aljazeera.net/science/2021/7/5/من-عجائب-المخلوقات-10-من-الحيوانات-ليست