Mamels life animal

I recently realized that you can't really have a milk mustache if you don't have lips. I guess that means we won't be seeing pigeons in any upcoming dairy ad campaigns- even though they make "milk," and it functions like the milk of mammals. by L. Lan Danny “Pigeon milk” was first systematically described in the 1930s and continues to intrigue dairy scientists through today. Pigeon chicks (known as squabs) hatch in a relatively undeveloped state, but during the first days after hatching, they show accelerated development. During this time, female and male pigeons shed “milk” from the epithelial cells in their crop, an enlarged compartment in the gullet in which food is stored prior to digestion. This chunky substance is rich in fats and proteins and is regurgitated to provision the squabs (Davies, 1939). Pigeon “lactation,” as well as parenting behavior, is hormonally regulated by prolactin, as is the case in mammals (reviewed in Horseman and Buntin, 1996).

Clearly we need more research on milk because this dude almost exclusively talks about the placenta. But its still amazing anyway. Enjoy!

Fat is back, baby !  After a pretty extensive smear campaign, fats are now recognized to be necessary for a healthy, balanced adult diet.  But for infants,   LL Cool J  said it best- “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years!” Fats have always been an essential constituent in mother’s milk and in the last decade specific fatty acids have been added to commercial formula. The lion’s share of research effort in the topic of early nutrition has been dedicated to fatty acids and cognition . This is because fatty acids, made from phospholipids and triglycerides, are critical structural components of the brain. More to the Story: Phospholipids                       A recent pilot study conducted by colleagues in Japan suggests that formula fortified with a particular phospholipid may confer some benefits for infant neurodevelopment and function. Sphingomyelin is a phospholipid, and in rats, contributes to myelination of the brain. In our brains, neurons send “messages” to one ano

1-Year Anniversary of Mammals Suck! A year ago I was sitting in the lobby of a conference hotel thinking “There really needs to be a blog about milk. The evolutionary biologists, dairy scientists, nutritionists, lactation biologists, and clinicians are doing such AMAZING research that informs one another but we all go to different conferences. We should be talking to each other more, and ALL of us should be talking to the general public way more . Hmmmmm… who could do it? Someone who interacts with lots of different folks working with milk and whose natural tendency is to make jokes and use curse words so the sciency-science won't be too dry." Aw crap... Since then, in between teaching, grant-writing, conferencing, reviewing, editing, mentoring, monkey milking, manuscript-writing, analyzing, assaying, and a personal life , I've been able to occasionally post about milk! In the last year " Mammals Suck... Milk! " has received >30,000 hits from dozens of countri

Building Babies :  P rimate Development in Proximate and Ultimate Perspective Editors: Kate Clancy , Katie Hinde , & Julienne Rutherford Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects Springer, 531 pp. The table of contents, listing the AMAZING chapters and contributors, can be found here .

At the grocery store, I can purchase a variety of infant formulas. For example, there are formulas for very low birth weight infants, soy-based formulas for infants with dairy allergies, and low-sodium formulas for infants who need restricted salt intake. But should I be able to buy Boy Formula or Girl Formula? The answer is… maybe. Recent research has shown that in deer, monkeys, and humans, mothers make different milk for sons and daughters. No two mammalian species produce identical milk . This is because for each species, milk synthesis reflects the environment, phylogeny , behavioral care, and developmental needs of the young ( Oftedal and Iverson 1995).  In terms of environment, the mother’s diet, the climate, and the community ecology can all be associated with milk composition and volume. Closely related species are more likely to produce similar milks due to shared genes. Behavioral care relates, in part, to how often the infant nurses. Young parked in nests, burrows, dens,