That’s Wild: Wormlike Amphibians Who Lactate?
Mammals are known as the only animals who feed their young by secreting milk from their bodies — but other critters are apparently giving us some competition.
A group of limbless tropical amphibians resembling worms, called caecilians, contains some species whose young come into the world equipped with teeth and feed on their mothers’ skin. Now it turns out those egg-hatched youngsters can also get their mothers to eject a high-fat, high-protein substance from their cloacae — if they make the right clicking noises.
Check out this voracious new family in action.
Learn More:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...
This video was featured in our Endangered Earth newsletter, issue 1,236 (March. 14, 2024): https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/p...
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