Lactation in Primates: Understanding the Physiology of Lactation from an Evolutionary Perspective

Lactation in humans is complex. Understanding the cultural and biological patterns of human breastfeeding requires a global evolutionary analysis that includes observations of other primates. Human breastfeeding may have several specificities, but some features could be shared with other non-human p...

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Veröffentlicht in:Humans 2024-09, Vol.4 (4), p.298-309
Hauptverfasser: Hassler, Michelle Pascale, Fabre, Alexandre, Moulin, Valérie, Faccin, Lucie, Gullstrand, Julie, Cermolacce, Alexia, Frémondière, Pierre
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Lactation in humans is complex. Understanding the cultural and biological patterns of human breastfeeding requires a global evolutionary analysis that includes observations of other primates. Human breastfeeding may have several specificities, but some features could be shared with other non-human primates. The purpose of this work is to determine what makes human breastfeeding unique from an evolutionary perspective. We consider behavioral as well as biological variables. Human and non-human primates share behavioral characteristics, such as the need to learn breastfeeding skills, and they display an adaptation of the energy density of the milk according to the type of mothering. However, despite having slow-growing, secondarily altricial offspring and rather diluted milk, modern humans spend less time breastfeeding than the great apes, and consequently have shorter interbirth intervals. Milk composition in macro- and micro-constituents changes during lactation, demonstrating evolutionary and ecological adaptation. Among the great apes, the milk of modern humans contains a higher proportion of fats, an equivalent proportion of carbohydrates and proteins, and a greater variety of oligosaccharides involved in brain and immune system development. The microbiome of modern man is less diverse than those of non-human primates, but the presence of HMOs and immunoglobulin A suggests that human milk is particularly adapted to prevent neonatal infections.
ISSN:2673-9461
2673-9461
DOI:10.3390/humans4040019