Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => Science and Technology => Topic started by: Sriram on April 29, 2016, 04:09:12 PM
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Hi everyone,
Zoopharmacognosy....the study of animals that self medicate. Wild animals have been known to self medicate and ingest plants, leaves, clay and other things in times of illness but which they normally never take.
Here is a site on this
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32966/title/Natural-Born-Doctors/
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Chimpanzees held captive often succumb to infection by a parasitic worm, which can lead to lethal intestinal blockages or secondary bacterial infections. But chimps in the wild rarely succumb to such infections. More than 30 years ago, Michael Huffman, who studies evolution of social systems at the University of Kyoto, noticed that wild chimps were treating themselves by ingesting foods with special properties that fight intestinal worm infections. Since that time, scientists have identified numerous other species that partake in similar practices, including macaques and sheep. Now, recognition that various insects also self-medicate is enabling scientists to rigorously examine the phenomenon in the laboratory, with hopes of elucidating applications in animal husbandry and even human medicine.
Over the past 30 years, scientists have come to realize that chimps are by no means the only animals that alter their diet and behavior to treat their own maladies. Huffman later documented Japanese macaques participating in similar practices, and other scientists watched capuchin monkeys rub themselves with millipedes, which secrete benzoquinones that may help repel mosquitoes. Even some domestic animals are taking their health into their own hands.
Sheep, for example, are known to regulate their energy and nutritional balances by modifying their food choices. Additionally, they learn to choose food rich in tannins—astringent plant compounds that can kill parasites and relieve infections—when suffering from gut nematode infections.
Fruit flies also self-medicate, but instead of consuming plants, they turn to alcohol. “It’s one of the really strange things about Drosophila melanogaster—how resistant they are to alcohol,” said Todd Schlenke of Emory University. Parasitic wasps, however, are not: alcohol interferes with their development. Schlenke discovered that parasitic wasps prefer to lay their eggs in larvae fed lower levels of alcohol, and when given a choice between food rich or devoid of alcohol, infected Drosophila larvae ate more alcohol-rich food than uninfected larvae.
Because flies don’t learn from their mothers, the behavior must be innate, said Schlenke, who is currently testing the hypothesis that parasitic infection changes fly brain chemistry, prompting alcohol-seeking behaviors.
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For information.
Cheers.
Sriram
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Interesting details in this article, Sriram, especially as regards insects, although it has long been known that a wide variety of animals seek out methods to keep themselves healthy(e.g. dust bathing and 'anting' in birds, and even grass chewing in dogs). The article mentions the choosiness of monarch butterflies, for instance, in seeking out places to lay their eggs. I have actually watched a butterfly in the UK, called a brown hairstreak, which seems equally choosy in laying its eggs on twigs of blackthorn bushes. I have watched several of the females, each one alighting on a leaf, then seeming to tap it and then taste it, before deciding/or not to lay an egg further down the twig which the leaf is part of. it does indeed seem to make sense that each butterfly is testing the leaf/twig in order to assess its suitability for healthy caterpillar hatching.
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More importantly, it is necessary to realize that all animals (including insects) have an innate ability to look for and choose the right type of plant, leaf, insect, clay or whatever....as a suitable remedy for its ailment.
Many people may choose to brush it off as just another 'evolutionary trait'....but if one thinks about it...it is quite extraordinary.
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Many people may choose to brush it off as just another 'evolutionary trait'....but if one thinks about it...it is quite extraordinary.
Not if you understand evolution.
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Wild animals? What about domestic ones? Easier to observe.
The most common one I've heard of, is Dogs eating grass, which often makes them sick.
The most common explanation I've heard is that they are self medicating.
I'm not saying it's right, but people often say that.
Interesting article about it here.
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/why-do-dogs-eat-grass
Why Is My Dog Eating Grass?
There are a variety of reasons your dog might be grazing on your lawn.
Some people propose that dogs might turn to eating grass when they don’t feel well as a way to make themselves vomit, and then feel better. Others dispute this idea, on the basis that dogs are not proven to be smart enough to decide to treat an upset stomach by eating grass.
Evidence suggests that most dogs that eat grass aren’t unwell beforehand, or at least they don’t seem so. In fact, fewer than 10% of dogs seem to be sick before eating grass, according to their owners. And grass-eating doesn’t usually lead to throwing up -- less than 25% of dogs that eat grass vomit regularly after grazing.
Other suggested reasons why your dog might be eating grass include improving digestion, treating intestinal worms, or fulfilling some unmet nutritional need, including the need for fiber. One published study reports on a miniature poodle that ate grass and then vomited every day for seven years. Three days after putting the dog on a high-fiber diet, the owner reported that the dog stopped eating grass entirely. And, of course, there is also the possibility that your dog simply likes the way grass tastes or feels.
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More importantly, it is necessary to realize that all animals (including insects) have an innate ability to look for and choose the right type of plant, leaf, insect, clay or whatever....as a suitable remedy for its ailment.
All animals? That seems like an extrapolation too far.
Many people may choose to brush it off as just another 'evolutionary trait'....but if one thinks about it...it is quite extraordinary.
Why "brush it off"? Positing evolution as a hypothesis to explain a behaviour is not brushing it off.
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Wild animals? What about domestic ones? Easier to observe.
The most common one I've heard of, is Dogs eating grass, which often makes them sick.
The most common explanation I've heard is that they are self medicating.
I'm not saying it's right, but people often say that.
Interesting article about it here.
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/why-do-dogs-eat-grass
And I agree, Rose. Dogs don't always eat/chew grass to make themselves sick, but the underlying reasons do seem to be related to their general health. Hence, the idea that they are self medicating seems a valid one.
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All animals? That seems like an extrapolation too far.
Why "brush it off"? Positing evolution as a hypothesis to explain a behaviour is not brushing it off.
Yes, I agree. I don't find it extraordinary at all, but I do find it fascinating behaviour. If it doesn't relate to evolution, I would be interested to learn of other reasons for this behaviour.
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Is it evolution or learned behaviour? For instance, if an elephant discovered X000 years ago that eating a given plant stopped them from having a stomach ache is it not likely that they would have shared that discovery with their herd, or at least their immediate familial group? Would that information then not have been handed down the generations?
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Is it evolution or learned behaviour? For instance, if an elephant discovered X000 years ago that eating a given plant stopped them from having a stomach ache is it not likely that they would have shared that discovery with their herd, or at least their immediate familial group? Would that information then not have been handed down the generations?
It cannot always be learned behaviour. One elephant discovering something by chance cannot influence all other elephants all over the country/continent to have a similar behaviour.
It is not possible that all animals of all species discover 'by chance' something that is vital for their survival.....and then the same behaviour is somehow passed on to all other members of that species.
Besides, as given in the article, even insects have been known to self medicate...and they do not learn from their parents. Their numbers would make it impossible for them imitate something learned by chance by one individual insect. They just don't have that capability.
If insects can have an innate ability to self medicate...surely other animals also can.
In fact, most likely, early humans also had an innate ability to identify different types of medication since they never lived in one place for long and their constant travels would have necessitated identifying different types of plants and stuff for medication.
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It is not possible that all animals of all species discover 'by chance' something that is vital for their survival.....and then the same behaviour is somehow passed on to all other members of that species.
You mean a bit like a random variation in a behavioural trait, that increases the chances of survival? Hence the lucky individual will probably have more offspring. Then, what if that trait could be inherited? All our lucky fellow's offspring would have an advantage and they, in turn, would have more offspring. Before you know it, pretty much every member of that species would have descended from our lucky fellow!
Wow Sriram, you might be onto something! Wonder why nobody thought of it before....
....oh, hang on. :-\
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You mean a bit like a random variation in a behavioural trait, that increases the chances of survival? Hence the lucky individual will probably have more offspring. Then, what if that trait could be inherited? All our lucky fellow's offspring would have an advantage and they, in turn, would have more offspring. Before you know it, pretty much every member of that species would have descended from our lucky fellow!
Wow Sriram, you might be onto something! Wonder why nobody thought of it before....
....oh, hang on. :-\
And through genetic means all the tigers in India get to know which plant they should eat to get rid of indigestion?! Great SKS! Wow! So easy!