Not easy to learn something new at 6:30am when I haven’t had much coffee yet, but Lacerant Plainer struck just the right chord this morning with something light, cute, and educational. I’m not going to try pronouncing zoopharmacognosy until I’m more awake, though.
Originally shared by Lacerant Plainer
Animal doctors : No really. This is not a post about vets. This is about how animals self-medicate…. including parrots, dogs, cats, chimps, elephants and a host of other creatures. There is even a word for it. Zoopharmacognosy is derived from zoo which means animal, pharma which stands for drug and gnosy, which means knowing. Next time you see your dog or cat eating grass, you know it’s a part of their self-medication regime.
Neighbourhood pharmacy : Bears, deer, elk, and various carnivores, as well as great apes, are known to consume medicinal plants apparently to self-medicate. Some lizards are believed to respond to a bite by a venomous snake by eating a certain root to counter the venom. Baboons in Ethiopia eat the leaves of a plant to combat the flatworms that cause schistosomiasis.
More widespread than one would assume : Birds, bees, lizards, elephants, and chimpanzees all share a survival trait: They self-medicate. These animals eat things that make them feel better, or prevent disease, or kill parasites like flatworms, bacteria, and viruses, or just to aid in digestion. Even creatures with brains the size of pinheads somehow know to ingest certain plants or use them in unusual ways when they need them. Anyone who has seen a dog eat grass during a walk has witnessed self-medication. The dog probably has an upset stomach or a parasite.
Cats may be eating grass for nutrients : In particular, a nutrient that grass provides for cats is folic acid. This is a vital precursor for your cat’s ability to synthesize hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is what supplies your cat’s organs with oxygen. We all know oxygen is pretty important.
Other examples : Red and green macaws, along with many animals, eat clay to aid digestion and kill bacteria. Pregnant lemurs in Madagascar nibble on tamarind and fig leaves and bark to aid in milk production, kill parasites, and increase the chances of a successful birth. Pregnant elephants in Kenya eat the leaves of some trees to induce delivery.
How does one determine if an animal is self-medicating? : Huffman established widely used criteria for judging when an animal is self-medicating. First, the plant eaten cannot be a regular part of the animal’s diet; it is used as medicine not food. Second, the plant must provide little or no nutritional value to the animal. Third, the plant must be consumed during those times of year—for example, the rainy season—when parasites are most likely to cause infections. Fourth, other animals in the group don’t participate. If the activity meets these standards, it is safe to assume the animal is self-medicating, Huffman says. Researchers have observed the practice in 25 regions involving 40 different plants.
Learned behavior? : The obvious question is how do the animals—some of them not noted for intelligence—learn to do this? How did sparrows and finches learn to collect nicotine-heavy cigarette butts to reduce mite infections in their nests? How do honey bees and wood ants know to line their nests with resin to combat bacteria? We don’t know for sure, but there is a strong hypothesis.
Article Link: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/49/17339.full
Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoopharmacognosy#Mammals_2
Pic courtesy: http://www.baxterboo.com/fun/a.cfm/why-does-my-pet-eat-grass
Related TED event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNn7b5VHowM
Research paper: Huffman M. (1997) Current evidence for self-medication in primates: A multidisciplinary perspective. Yearb Phys Anthropol 104(suppl 25):171–200.
#science #scienceeveryday
]]>