The size of the nipple differs substantially between women, a study has found.
This suggests there is no evolutionary advantage to having large or small nipples, the research adds.
Lead author Ashleigh Kelly, from the University of Queensland, said: ‘Female nipples are functional as they are used in breastfeeding’, adding variation in women’s areola width suggests nipples work well at any size, shares Daily Mail.
Previous studies imply babies can struggle to ‘latch on’ if their mothers’ nipples are too large.
The researchers analysed the nipples of 63 male and female volunteers.
The participants’ nipples, bust and chest sizes were measured.
Room temperature was also taken into account.
Miss Kelly said: ‘We found that female nipples were significantly more variable than male nipples.
‘The finding that females nipples are highly variable discredits previous studies that indicate variation in a specific feature indicates a lack of functionality.’
The findings were published in the journal Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology.
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