In article ,
 pz  wrote:

> In article ,
>  "Red Dragon"  wrote:
> 
> > Is there anyone who can help me with this.  I notice that the breast of the
> > female homo sapiens is much much larger than than of  the apes.  The female
> > apes I notice,  have enlarged nipples but hardly any shape of a breast.  So
> > we conclude that  the  homo's  female breast grew in size in the course of
> > human evolution.  Is the breast size a factor to milk production? 
> 
> No. It's mostly due to stored fat, not glandular tissue.
> 
> > Does it
> > mean that the human baby require more milk than apes babies?
> 
> No. We primates produce fairly watery milk. Mammals that have been 
> adapted to jack up the nutritional quality have fattier, richer 
> milk, but that isn't accompanied by any overt increase in breast 
> size.

*
Other factors are involved in breast size, milk fattiness, and total 
production.

The pregnant female elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris, produces 
about 80 - 100 kg of milk whose average fat content is around 50 
percent -- this is one of the richest milks in the mammal kingdom. 
The breasts are large, but very flat -- maintaining a streamlined 
shape for the overall body to facilitate efficient swimming.

This bountiful treasure of fat milk is invested in one pup.  The 
pup's average birth weight is about 35 kg = 75 lb.  In one month of 
nursing, the pup's average weight is 140 kg = 300 lb.  The pups are 
weaned and abandoned after one month of nursing.

Since they cannot swim at birth, the pups need a good supply of fat 
to live off of until they can begin to feed.  They must teach 
themselves to swim -- over a period of a couple of months.

Breast size, total volume, and fat content are very much dependent 
on the species.

earle
*

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