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Imagine feeding your baby a milkshake for every meal.
想像餐餐都餵你的孩子喝奶昔。
Well, for hooded seal pups, that's nothing.
這對年幼的冠海豹來說,沒什麼大不了的。
Their mothers' milk contains 60% fat, the fattiest milk in the world.
冠海豹奶含有 60% 的脂肪,是全世界脂肪含量最高的母乳。
For comparison, the richest ice cream clocks in at only 16% fat.
拿來對比的話,最濃郁的冰淇淋也只含 16% 脂肪。
And after just 3 to 5 days guzzling the stuff, seal pups double their body weight.
只要狂喝個 3 到 5 天,冠海豹寶寶的體重就會加倍。
But seals aren't the only animals with extreme milk.
但海豹不是唯一擁有終極母乳的動物。
If hooded seals drink the fattiest milk, then tammar wallabies prefer their milk loaded with sugar.
冠海豹喜歡喝最肥的母乳,而尤金袋鼠則偏好充滿糖分的母乳。
It can contain as much as 12% sugar, more than a glass of Coca-Cola, and for good reason.
尤金袋鼠母乳所含糖分可能高達 12%,比一杯可樂的含糖量還高,但這是情有可原的。
Joeys are born prematurely and finish developing outside the womb.
袋鼠寶寶都是早產兒,在子宮外才會發育完成。
And since sugars are easier to digest than fat, their milk is easier on their developing digestive systems.
由於糖比脂肪更易消化,所以母乳對發育中袋鼠幼兒的消化系統負擔較小。
Meanwhile, the milk also contains an antibiotic more powerful than penicillin,
牠們的母乳也含有比青黴素更強的抗生素,
which protects the young joeys from germs since they're born without a fully functioning immune system.
可以讓出生後尚未有健全免疫系統的袋鼠寶寶免於細菌感染。
Meanwhile, aardvark milk doesn't contain much sugar, but it makes up for it with extreme levels of protein.
而土豚母奶雖然沒有那麼高的含糖量,但其中的大量蛋白質足以彌補。
While cow's milk has a measly 3 to 4% protein, aardvark milk can contain over 13%, making it among the highest-protein milks on earth, giving calves enough nutrition to reach 30% of their adult weight in just three months.
牛奶的蛋白質含量僅有 3 到 4%,而土豚奶含量卻可能超過 13%,成為世上蛋白含量最高的母乳,讓土豚寶寶攝取足夠營養,在三個月內達到成豚體重的 30%。
But while aardvarks have some pretty potent milk, nine-banded armadillos make some special stuff of their own.
土豚母奶的確很有效,不過九帶犰狳也能夠分泌很特別的母奶。
By the time the pups are a month old, they're drinking milk that contains 10 times as much calcium as cow's milk.
九帶犰狳寶寶滿月時,牠們喝的母奶中,鈣含量比牛奶高出 10 倍。
All this calcium helps the pups develop those famous armor shells, which are actually made of bone.
如此高含量的鈣質有助寶寶們的發育,長成犰狳特有、由骨骼組成的盔甲外殼。
Next up, flamingos.
接下來介紹紅鶴。
That's right, flamingos.
沒錯,就是紅鶴。
Like most birds, they feed their chicks by vomiting directly into their mouths,
像大部分的鳥類一樣,牠們會把食物直接吐進雛鳥嘴裡,
but that food isn't made of the day's catch.
但這些食物不是當天的捕獲。
Instead, it consists of a substance called crop milk, because it's stored in the parents' crop.
它其實是含有一種叫「嗉囊乳」的物質,因為它被儲存在父母的嗉囊中。
And flamingos are one of only three birds that can produce this stuff.
紅鶴是全球唯三種可以分泌此類物質的鳥類之一。
But even among our feathered friends, flamingo crop milk is special because it's pink.
但即便跟另外兩種鳥類相比,紅鶴的嗉囊乳還是很特別,因為它是粉紅色的。
That's because the pigments that give flamingos their brilliant coloring leach out of their feathers and into the milk.
這是因為讓賦予紅鶴鮮豔色彩的色素從羽毛中滲透並浸入了乳汁。
Now, all this milk might sound like the next health-food craze, but there's a good reason we generally stick to plain old cattle.
這些母乳聽起來好像可能風靡健康食品界,但我們選擇繼續喝牛奶是有他的道理在的。
They're much easier to milk.
因為牛奶好擠多了。