Dolphins possess a “taste for fat” to obtain their mother’s milk

Scientists have discovered that young dolphins have specialized receptors for detecting fatty acids in their mother’s milk.

The findings, published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, provide important insights into how these marine mammals grow, feed, and communicate.

The new findings challenge previous assumptions about cetacean sensory systems.

A first experiment

Unlike terrestrial mammals, dolphins and other marine mammals have limited olfactory capabilities – the sense of smell is largely non-functional in aquatic environments.

Therefore, researchers speculated that dolphins had other ways to perceive their surroundings and detect food.

Fat plays a crucial role in providing energy and supporting brain development in baby dolphins, who are entirely dependent on their mother’s milk in the early stages of life.

“We examined the tongue of a young Indo-Pacific dolphin and confirmed special structures that may help it detect fat,” said the study’s first author, Hinako Katsushima, of Hokkaido University in Japan.

“On the back of the tongue, there is a V-shaped row of taste receptors that are specifically tuned to pick up fatty acids. These receptors also have enzymes that help break down fat, making it easier for the dolphin to sense and process.”

Dolphins subjected to a new situation

In a second experiment, the research team gave young dolphins a choice between two liquids: one containing milk and the other a cloudy solution.

The dolphin showed an unexpected preference for the cloudy solution. This reinforces the finding that dolphins can distinguish between the two liquids, but the researchers are not sure why they avoided the milk.

One possibility is that they considered the milk to be unfamiliar—it was a mixture of milk from two mothers—and thus avoided it out of fear of new foods, a habit called neophobia.

“Our findings suggest that this ability to detect fatty acids in their mother’s milk is part of a specialized ‘fat taste’ system that may help dolphins assess the nutritional value of their food,” said Assistant Professor Takashi Hayakawa, also of Hokkaido University.

“In the wild, where high-fat diets are essential for survival, this ability may provide dolphins with an evolutionary advantage, allowing them to select high-quality milk from their mothers and subsequently assess the nutritional content of their prey.”

The new study opens new avenues for understanding how marine mammals perceive and interact with their environment, as well as how they communicate and feed in the wild.

Further research will be needed to explore the full scope of this “fat taste” system and how it functions in other marine species, such as whales.

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Source: phys.org, sciencedaily.com, newsbreak.com.

Photo: Takashi Hayakawa/ Mikurashima Tourism Association.

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