The professional field in which I am working as an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) is totally surprising.
Until few days ago, researchers strongly though that the ability to produce milk is a unique feature of mammals. But a team of 10 researchers from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China published in last number of Science journal presents a report of an a really unexpected nursing pattern in a jumping spider species.
It seems that this spider mother is offering at first milk to her offsprings just by placing milk droplets in the nest, but after some days directly from the source, it's body.
Another very interesting thing is that the mother cares for and feed the spiderlings for almost 40 days, long after the time when they would be able to obtain food on their own and pretty close to the time of their sexual maturity. WOW!!!
Also, the researcher noticed that milk is indispensable for offspring survival in the early stages and boosts their overall health and chances of survival as adults. WOW again!
Featured image: Chinese Academy of Science