Watch a snakelike creature feed ‘milk’ to its young

Mammals aren’t the only animals that nurse their young. Cockroaches, spiders, and some fish and birds feed their offspring a milklike liquid. Now, researchers have discovered the first amphibian that does so. Scientists studying the feeding behavior of caecilians—a group of limbless, egg-laying creatures—observed their offspring making a peculiar and rarely heard sound. They were clicking and chittering through their nasal cavities multiple times a day, seemingly begging for milk from their mothers (as seen in the video above). They even nibbled on her on occasion. Researchers recorded various sounds made by offspring. These sounds and body movements, including "chewing" motions, are thought to stimulate lactation. (Acoustic filters applied to remove background noise.) Mailho-Fontana et al ., Science (2024) The begging worked. As the researchers report today in Science , mom released a white substance from her cloaca, which her young immediately gobbled up. This “milk” comes from glands in caecilians’ fallopian tubes and is rich in fatty acids—three times richer, in fact, than cattle milk. Although only mammals produce true milk, the new study suggests this type of nursing is perhaps more common in the animal kingdom than previously thought.
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research