Join Honey for FREE at: https://www.joinhoney.com/MinuteEarth. Special thanks to Honey for sponsoring this episode. Female mammals make milk, a cocktail of filtered blood, to provide their babies with vital nutrients. Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube sponsors. ___________________________________________ To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: Mammal: Endothermic vertebrates that nurse their young. Lactation: The secretion of milk by the mammary glands. Mammary Gland: A cluster of alveoli and ducts that secretes milk. Mammary Alveoli: The tiny sacs that are the site of milk production and storage in the mammary gland. Oxytocin: A hormone released by the pituitary gland that - among other things - causes the milk ejection reflex during nursing. Holstein: A large black and white cow known for the large quantities of milk it yields. ___________________________________________ Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/ Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 And Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n ___________________________________________ Credits (and Twitter handles): Script Writer: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg) Script Editor: Emily Elert (@eelert) Video Illustrator: Qingyang Chen (@QCVisual) Video Director: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg) Video Narrator: Emily Elert (@eelert) With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Kate Yoshida, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder ___________________________________________ References: Skibiel, A., Downing, L., Orr, T., and Hood, W. (2013).The Evolution Of The Nutrient Composition Of Mammalian Milks. Journal of Animal Ecology. 82 (6): 1254-1264. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23895187 Sharp, J., Wanyonyi, S., Modepalli, V., Watt, A., Kuruppath, S., Hinds, L., Kumar, A., Abud, H., Lefevre, C., and Nicholas, K. (2017). The Tammar Wallaby: A Marsupial Model To Examine The Timed Delivery And Role Of Bioactives In Milk. General and Comparative Endocrinology. 244: 164-177. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27528357 Tsuruta, S., Misztal, I., and Lawlor, T. (2004). Genetic Correlations Among Production, Body Size, Udder,and Productive Life Traits Over Time in Holsteins. Journal of Dairy Science. 87(5):1457-1468. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15290995 Nicholas, K. (1988). Asynchronous Dual Lactation In A Marsupial, The Tammar Wallaby. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 154 (2): 529-536. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2456758