The SD staff provided the writer with an excellent explanation of why males have nipples that are not (genetically) intended to peroduce the same results as those of females.
The article dealt with similar issues of male/female similarities but not very directly/explicitly. Example, the male scrotal tissue becomes labia for females (or vice versa), while the clitoris is the female analog of the male penis.
For much more on this subject, I recommend the extremely enjoyable essay by the (sadly) late Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard University: ‘Male Nipples and Clitoral Ripples*’ (sic).
The essay appears on pages 124 through 138 in a collection of Mr. Gould’s essays, entitled “Bully for Brontosaurus” (W.W. Norton & Co., 1991).
This large collection is/has been available through bookstores and book clubs (I got my copy through a history-oriented book club).
Even if you are not that interested in male nipples, etc., you will find that Mr. Gould’s other works are so enjoyable, often so amusing, that you’ll wish you’d attended Harvard University if only to sit in on his biology, geology, and history of science courses.
Yeah, I think most of us here are already card-carrying members of the SJG Fan Club. He was one of the few writers to get his own obituary thread, in MPSIMS.
But thanks for the tip, anyway. And welcome to the SDMB!
A link to the column is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as copying the URL and pasting it into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_093.html
Since this is a comment on one of Cecil’s columns and not on a Staff Report (which are written by Cecil’s unworthy minions), I’ll move this thread to the Comments on Cecil’s Columns forum.
Yes jb there is a species of bat in which the male lactates. I’ve got two cites here, the first is a short snippet where the fact was mentioned in the Scientific Frontiers magazine, the May-June 1994 issue. http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf093/sf093b10.htm
The second actually seems to be an example for how to write a minor science-oriented term paper, from a professor’s site at the University of Minnesota. The professor seems to have taken the page down, but it still available through the wonders of the Google Cache
The paper does note that this seems to be a unique occurance so far. No other instances of male lactation in the wild.
There is a cite in there for the scientific magazine Nature, wherein we could probably find more info. The cite is:
Francis, C. M. 1994 Lactation in Male Fruit Bats. Scientific Correspondence. Nature Issue 367: Pg. 691-692.
I don’t have a membership to their site so I can’t do a more detailed search for you. Maybe some helpful doper could? As a reward you might get a cite from Unca Cecil when he publishes a post-script to this article.
PS- Unca Cecil’s article was published in 1979(well except for the questionable bit about Jenny Jones) and the Dayak bats were not found until 1992. Unca Cecil was accurate, to the best of known scientific knowledge, at the time of the article’s publication.
There’s another factoid that may have escaped detection when the column was written: certain male bodybuilders who lactate. Granted, there’s no telling what kinds of hormones some of these guys shoot up, but a correspondent from New York tells us that a close friend of his lactated and, with his exceptionally developed pectoral muscles, could shoot a stream of milk at will. This man is generally reliable, but we wonder whether any similar rumors, or attested cases, have ever come into anybody’s view.
Oldfashioned antipsychotic drugs! The neuropharmaceutical guys had this figured out 40+ years ago: too much dopamine in the cortex is associated with hallucinations, paranoia, altered states (and no, that’s not why they call it dope-amine.) Your Haldol or whatever charged in to foil the deeds of the dopamine, whenever and wherever it found any, including the black stuff (substantia nigra), where only dopamine stands between us and Parkinsonism; in the up-against-the-wall nucleus (nucleus accumbens septi), where dopamine gives joy, reward, satisfaction, etc.; and in the thing-under-the-honeymoon-suite (hypothalamus), where dopamine blocks the flow of prolactin. So, a few good hits of Haldol (Prolixin, Thorazine, whatever), and you’re not hallucinating, but stiff as a board, lactating and dripping milk, and not enjoying life one little bit. Menstrual periods also tend to be suppressed, along with the dread PMS, which doesn’t bother the guys at all but really upsets women (go figure.) Miracle drugs in their day, but now it’s 30-40 years later and the newer ones can generally do their jobs without such horrendous side effects.
The brain, the brain, you gotta love it or go crazy!
BTW, hi, folks! I’m new in these parts; but the kindness of strangers glows ubiquitous and I’m confident. Kind of.
Welcome, oldbat. I’m a little confused by your post. Nothing specific in your post, but the whole post. I’m not sure what it has to do with male nipples. Did you perhaps get the wrong thread?
Sorry, I got a little carried away. Male mammary glands can be stimulated by the hormone prolactin to develop and produce actual milk, to the great distress of the patient. So, not only do we all have nipples, but also the hormonal wherewithall to put the milk factory into active production. Guys’ usual overall balance, with the preponderance of testosterone, can usually be trusted to keep milk gland development suppressed, by means of dopamine secretion at the proper location in the hypothalamus. But when you introduce a chemical that interferes with the dopamine activity, the prolactin faucet is stuck in the open position,so to speak.
Does that sound a little clearer? Again, I apologize for degeneratng into unclarity.