mammal placenta ?

[sunshine]

do all mammals eat their placentas, or just omnivores and carnivores?

[raeben]

almost all mammals. i like how wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placentophagy puts it:

Quote:

Most placental mammals participate in placentophagy, including, surprisingly, herbivorous ones. Pinnipedia and Cetacea are exceptions to mammalian placentophagy, as is the camel. Placentophagy has been observed in Insectivora, Rodentia, Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla (with the camel as a noted exception), and Primates. Marsupials, which are an order of metatherian (pouched) mammals, resorb rather than deliver the placenta, and therefore cannot engage in placentophagia; they do, however, vigorously lick birth fluids as they are excreted.

my friend raises goats and sheep and says that it's usually the first-time mothers that might not eat their placenta but then they are way more likely to reject the baby and not want to nurse or mother it. she will always try to observe if the mothers eat their placenta and if they don't, she will force feed them some by sneaking it in with a treat. by ingesting it, she hypothesizes, the ewes get whatever hormones they need to know to instinctively nurse and care for their new baby. she says she hardly ever has ewes rejecting the lamb when she makes sure everybody gets some of their afterbirth.

[golden pregnancy]

Fascinating! Thanks, Raeben.