Lunch Topics - Nipples
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The few people who have considered this question, including Aristotle and Alexander Graham Bell, have discovered that mammals follow what is now known as the ''one-half rule.'' According to the rule, the average number of young in a litter is one half the typical number of mammaries and the maximum litter size is equal to the total number of mammaries. (Humans conform perfectly to the rule with two breasts and a typical litter size of one-half that, and a standard maximum litter size, without fertility drugs, of two.)
The question is then, why do cows typically have four nipples while normally giving birth to a single calf? Discuss.
posted by Mike @ 3:59 PM
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