The blue whale is known to be the biggest as well as the heaviest mammary glands.
Explanation:
Blue whale or Balaenoptera musculus has a long and slender body and the body may be of various shades. They fall under the family which involves humpback whale, the fin whale, and minke whale. It is believed the whales family to have diverged from other families of suborder Mysticeti. They feed almost on krill and small numbers of copepods. Mating season starts in later autumn and continues till the end of the winter.
Out of all the animal species present on the earth, blue whale is known to have the largest mammary glands which are about 1.5 meters in length and weigh around 250 pounds. This is similar to the baby elephant and rather than that of the terrestrial mammal like breasts, whales comprise of mammary slits from where the baby whale nudges to suck out the milk.
Underwater mammary glands do not function like humans. This is because they do not have anything which resembles the breast of human. Secondly, all the whales comprise of inverted mammary gland which will only come out with the stimulation which is made by the baby whale. The milk is ejected from the breasts and not sucked.
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Answer Details:
Grade: Secondary School
Subject: Biology
Chapter: Animal classification
Keywords:
Blue whale, largest mammary gland, mammary gland, underwater, human, breasts, milk, baby, stimulation, mating, suborder Mysticeti, minke whale, humpback whale.
