Premium
CHANGES IN MILK COMPOSITION OF THE RED KANGAROO, MEGALEIA RUFA (DESMAREST), DURING LACTATION
Author(s) -
Lemon Meredith,
Barker S
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1967.16
Subject(s) - lactation , zoology , biology , pouch , blastocyst , anatomy , embryo , embryogenesis , fishery , pregnancy , genetics
Summary Observations were made on quantitative changes which occurred in the milk of four female red kangaroos during the progress of lactation. These changes were related to growth of the pouch‐young and to development of the delayed blastocyst. In the two animals which produced pouch‐young from a delayed blastocyst alter the first young had developed normally and permanently emerged from the pouch, total solids increased until the time of redevelopment of the blastocyst when they decreased steadily. In these two animals solids‐not‐fat showed the same trend as total solids. Protein levels increased also until redevelopment of the blastocyst and then fell and stabilised. Unbound reducing sugars remained consistently low throughout. There was a large discrepancy between the sum of the measured parameters and total solids, which may be accounted for by bound sugars not measured during this study. The results are discussed in relation to what little is known of lactational changes which occur in other species of marsupials.