Why is it that humans are the only species to continue to drink milk after we are weaned.?

Answer 1

It isn't that we are the only species to drink milk so much as the only ones to digest it as adults. But lactose tolerance evolved in only a portion of the human population.
About 90 percent of Orientals and blacks lose this ability by the time they reach adulthood and become quite sick when they drink milk.
Even African and Asian herders who keep cattle or goats rarely drink fresh milk. Instead, they first treat the milk with fermentation bacteria that break down lactose, in a sense predigesting it. They can then ingest the milk in the form of yogurt or cheese without any problem.
About 90 percent of Europeans and their American descendants, on the other hand, continue to produce the enzyme throughout their lives and can drink milk with no ill effects.
The ability to digest milk arose simultaneously with pigment loss in Europeans.
Highly pigmented skin protects vitamin B folate from UV damage. The vitamin B folate or B12 is required for DNA synthesis so is crucial for survival.
As mankind migrated north they suffered less B12 loss with lowered incidence of UV in Northern latitudes. The selective pressure to protect B12 dropped while the need for Vit D increased. High pigment in skin combined with lower light increased Vit D deficiency. Lighter pigmentation was selected for, as was the ability to digest milk as adults. Vitamin D is required for calcium absorption and bone growth especially in pregnant or lactating females. Drinking milk helped support reproducing females with more skin pigment.

Answer 2

humans are the only species to do a whole lot of things simply because we have the mental ability to do so.

Monkeys can't get milk themselves, but they are more than happy to drink it when they are able to steal it from a human.

Also you are comparing apples to oranges. Its not like humans keep feeding off breast milk past infancy. It just so happens that a cow's milk has nutritional value as well as tastes good to us as well as having a million other uses and we have learned to harvest it.

Answer 3

No. We drink milk after we get weaned because we can get our hands on it. Cats and dogs that are weaned love milk, but can't tolerate the lactose in it.

Answer 4

Simple. The power of money and politics. Biology often takes a back seat to big business, marketing, and politics.

Ignorance. People just don't seem to realize that we humans evolved very well without consuming anything but mothers milk while in infancy.

Answer 5

Do you know another species that can milk a cow? Neither do I. We do it because we can.

Answer 6

Do you know about the relationship between ants and aphids?
Ant raise and care for aphids and milk them!

Answer 7

We are the only ones with dairy farms, refrigerators and grocery stores.

Answer 8

So cats don't drink milk?

Answer 9

Because we never really grow up.

Answer 10

Dude you still drink your mom's milk........gross.