Learn about a spider whose babies "milk" milk?

Breastfeeding is exclusive to mammals, but scientists have over time discovered other animals that also produce this nutrient-rich elixir to feed their young, including flamingos, cockroaches, and males on the way to the emperor. But the most recent and unexpected addition to this group is a kind of jumping spiders.

Researchers in China have discovered that Toxeus magnus females secrete a milk-like liquid to feed their young.

The study, published in the journal Science, also found that maternal spiders continue to provide liquid, which contains about four times the amount of protein found in cow's milk, for a long time after their children become young adults.

Although spiders do not use the mammary glands to produce fluid and are therefore "breastfed" by name only, the results should prompt scientists to reconsider what they know about breastfeeding and how it has evolved, according to researchers.

A biologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, study author Richard Corette, said finding such mammal-like behavior in a spider or other invertebrates was a surprise.

Glove spiders are the largest group of spiders in the world, with more than 5,000 species and found on almost every continent.