I ran this question by a vet friend of mine....
Gail S. Hertz MD, IBCLC
[log in to unmask]
On Tue, 18 Mar 2003, G. Hertz wrote:
>Hillary,
>This seems like the perfect question to ask you. May I share your answer
>with the others?
Sure.
>> > I am fascinated by animals and am a semi-regular zoo
>> > visitor; it seems that other mammals have much more
Just a bit of unasked-for commentary here: I hope that Carole is attending
zoos which attempt to provide naturalistic environments and appropriate
diets and environmental enrichment for their animals, and not subsidizing
with her entrance fees zoos which are less enlightened! But, anyway...
>> > consistency, within their species, in the shape and
>> > size of the nipple than we human gals do. I mean, I
>> > have seen nipples varying from 3-4 cm in diameter, all
>> > the way down to the "itty bitties" that are 1 cm or
>> > less. I have seen ladies with virtually no areolae
>> > (actually that particular mom had no palpable breast
>> > gland, either), up to areolae that were the size of a
>> > saucer. I am not a zoologist or a vet :) but I have
>> > not observed these extreme variations in other animals
>> > I have seen.
Interesting question. Certainly some animals, such as dairy cows and dairy
goats, are bred specifically with a mind to making the udders uniform and
the mammary glands productive! I would not expect much variation in these
animals. Other animals, of course, are not bred at all by humans or are
not bred with the mammary system in mind. Of those animals, the most
direct experience I have is with dogs and cats. I would say that there is
minimal variation in prepubescent anatomy in these species, leaving aside
the issue of supernumerary mammary glands/nipples which can be present in
a given individual (as in humans, I understand). BUT, in my experience,
the post-pubescent bitch or queen can display varying levels of teat
development, and the postpartum bitch or queen can also vary with respect
to degree of involution, or how close to her pre-pregnancy baseline she
gets, if you know what I mean. The length of the nipple, the pigmentation
of the nipple, and the amount of mammary tissue can all vary between
individuals of the same breed - although certainly there is more variation
between animals of different breeds within the same species than there is
between animals of the same breed, I would say.
As far as undomesticated animals go, well, I have only seen one lactating
tiger and she looked pretty much the same, anatomy-wise, as a lactating
queen, but with bigger teeth and of course, bigger mamms :). I have seen
quite a few nonhuman primates (old and new world) in various stages of
pregnancy and lactation, and I never really noticed much difference in
them except that the ones who had had several kids already had saggier
teats. Boy, that's a surprise, huh. :)
I guess I have to say, I suspect there is less variation between animals
than humans, but I can't prove it, and I do think there is some variation
between animals, not none.
Clear? There will be a test tomorrow.... :)
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net [log in to unmask]
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
newly minted veterinarian-at-large :)
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