Saturday, December 01, 2018
Spider milk!
Spider milk? Don't you mean spider silk? No, spider milk.
This is INTERESTING from a designed-genome viewpoint.
A new study reveals a species of jumping spider in which newly hatched young are entirely dependent on a maternally excreted milk-like substance. Suckling continues for 40 days – well beyond the point at which the young can forage for themselves.The most interesting part is the relationship, not the substance itself. Many animals feed their offspring in various ways, but until now only birds and mammals were known to maintain a household for an extended period.
Unlike other specialised food sources, spider milk is supplied to the young from hatching until near adulthood, and is accompanied by a high degree of maternal care. The team carried out a series of field and laboratory experiments to find out just how crucial milk provision and parental attention is to the species. To test the importance of care and milk in juveniles, the team removed the mother spider at 20 days, or left her in the nest with a blocked epigastric furrow. The authors found that while nursing was not critical to offspring survival after becoming independent, their mother’s presence greatly assured their overall health and adult survival. The provision of milk reduced the time spent outside the nest. The presence of the mother and her nest-care also seemed to reduce the parasite load on the spiderlings.In other words, the job of Homemaker is ORIGINAL in the genome. It's not an added feature that "evolved" sometime between fish and birds, and it's certainly not a "social construct". Good science. Observe something odd, look at it closely, experiment to see if it's real. LOOK ABOUT YOU. TAKE HOLD OF THE THINGS THAT ARE HERE. TALK TO THEM. LET THEM TALK TO YOU.
Labels: Carver, Grand Blueprint
¶ 12:36 AM
