LSM1303 Animal Behaviour Student Blog : behaviour research

Inhuman Doctors: Zoopharmacognosy and Self Medicating Animals

Vigneshwaran Shunmugam — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:15:00 GMT

Many major cultures around the globe have developed some form of medical science. The Indians have Ayurveda, the Chinese have TCM and of course there is Western medicine. What these fields have in common is that they are derived from the process of observing the effects of certain herbs or foods on the health of the imbiber and thus correlating cause and effect. While medical science and its practitioners have long been held to be at the forefront of human intellectual pursuits, we now realise that this was no great achievement at all. In fact, even monkeys do it.

Observe this Orang Utan for example.

Right. This is just a monkey opening a packet of powder. Nothing fancy. However, monkeys DO develop their own medical techniques to deal with their own health issues. This is known as Zoopharmacognosy which is basically the animal form of Medical Science. Many species of animals use various techniques to deal with their maladies.

If you have seen your dog or cat eating grass you may have been puzzled at their sudden vegetarianism. They do have good reason for doing so. Eating grass "stimulates either retching or the rapid expulsion of worms in diarrhea" (Hart and Hart 1985). Compare this with the Tamil proverb which claims that a Tiger would not eat grass, no matter how hungry.

Medicine is not a purely mammalian pursuit either.Snakes too have herbological knowledge! "According to Chinese folklore, many centuries ago a farmer in the Yunnan district found a snake near his hut. Fearful for his life, he beat it senseless with a hoe and left it for dead. A few days later, the same snake returned. Again he tried to kill it, but again it returned. After he had beaten it a third time, the farmer followed the severely wounded snake as it crawled into a clump of weeds, started feeding on them, and thereby rapidly cured the worst of its injuries. The plant in the story was Panex notoginseng, which now forms the main ingredient in the herbal formulation 'Yunnan bai yao', a white powder that cauterizes cuts and stems external bleeding immediately. It was standard issue in the Vietnam War, for use when soldiers were wounded far from conventional medical treatment. "(Reid 1987).

Our closest cousins, the Great Apes have various methods by which they keep themselves in the pink of health.

Above we see a chimpanzee(Pan troglodytes) chewing on the bitter pith of the Vernonia Amygdalina plant. Chewing on the pith allows the chimp to extract the bitter juice that is within. THe chimpanzees use this method to kill parasites in their intestinal tracts. Interestingly, chimps do not usually eat this leaf due to it being slightly toxic to them. Thus, they only eat this leaf for medicinal purposes! This paper has extensive information on this phenomenon, complete with graphs. The author Michael Huffman is an eminent figure in the field of Zoopharmacognosy.

Chimps sometimes consume the leaves of the Aspilia plant, which they got to great lengths to obtain. The leaves are covered in stiff hairs and are swallowed whole, despite the difficulty of doing so. "Huffman doesn't doubt that there is a medicative function behind leaf swallowing behavior. His theory about how it gets rid of worms revolves around the hairiness of the leaves. Huffman found live worms in chimp *** stuck "like Velcro" to leaf hairs and trapped within the folds. He speculates that worms may become attached to the leaves or somehow enticed into the folds during digestion, taking a "magic carpet ride" through the gastrointestinal tract, eventually to be excreted from the body. Chemicals in the plant may also decrease the ability of the parasites to adhere to the intestine, making it easier for them to be swept out by the leaves."

Perhaps the animal use of medicines to treat themselves is not such a surprising phenomenon. In fact post-Darwinists should have predicted it regardless of evidence. Using medical methods enables an animal to prevent its death,prolong its life, to heal faster and have a survival advantage. This is an advantage that would allow those animals who use it to be more successful than those who dont. In the abscence of a consequent negative selection pressure, animals who self-medicate would definitely outsurvive those who do not. Thus, Zoopharmacognosy is not surprisingly prevalent in the animal kingdom.

Not only do animals consume herbs and plants as medicines, but they also consume certain types of soil(geophagy) and insects for the same purpose.

Even more interesting than the fact that animals employ medical science is the fact that many of the herbs and techniques employed by animals are similarly employed by humans. This highlights the cross pollination of medical knowledge from the animal kingdom to ours.

To learn more on the exciting field of Zoopharmacognosy, this book might help.

"Really Wild Remedies—Medicinal Plant Use by Animals" by Jennifer A. Biser. Zoogoer, January/February 1998

Huffman, M.A. 2001. Self-Medicative Behavior in the African Great Apes: An Evolutionary Perspective into the Origins of Human Traditional Medicine. Bioscience, 51(8):651-661.

View Video
Format: ???
Duration: --:--

Cats and Dogs: Living in Harmony?

CHAN SHER LIN — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:26:00 GMT

Think of this scene, the dog chasing the cat, and the cat chasing the rat and how the cycle will go on and on forever. Here, let us focus our attention on the cat and the dog. How many of you still hold on the belief that the coexistance of cats and dogs is impossible? Although such situations do happen in real life, but it is still possible for a cat and a dog to live together.

Cats and dogs are naturally mistrustful of each other and it is really difficult for them to accept each other. Most dogs are natural predators, and they are designed by nature to chase and catch smaller animal for food. Even though dogs are domesticated for thousands of years, this predatory instinct still stay within. On the contrary, the cats automatically defend themselves against larger predators. They climb trees, and will try to scare the enemy by spitting and hitting, or launch a counter attack with its claws and teeth. Therefore, it takes a great deal of patience and effort on the part of the pet owner to train and persuade the dogs and cats to learn to live in harmony with each other.

There are several ways of training both the dog and the cat to coexist with one another.

Training of the Dog

First, teach the dog that the cat is off limits altogether and shall not be disturbed under any circumstances. This can be done by placing the cat within the dog's visual range and then taking the dog through several short daily sessions and insist that the cat cannot be approached in any way. Repeat this procedure every day, bringing the cat a little closer each time, and if the dog makes a lunge for the cat, jerk him back immediately and order him to LEAVE the cat. When the dog sits calmly or ignores the cat even when it is right next to him, let it walk around the room while the cat is present. BUT, always keep a lookout and pull the dog away IMMEDIATELY if it shows signs of a chase. REMEMBER TO ALWAYS REWARD THE DOG FOR OBEYING YOU AND IGNORING THE CAT!

Training of the Cat

Cats are highly territorial and antisocial in nature and thus, it can be difficult to introduce new dog or puppies to a resident cat. Therefore, constant reinforcement of positive social behavior will be encouraged. Cats are not like dogs, where you can take it for an obedience course to teach them how to deal with a dog. Give them some space and time to accept the new 'friend'.

In addition, cats should not be introduced to a home with dogs that have chased and tried to kill cats. These dogs will probably find it difficult to see cats as anything other than prey, and even if they do not actually manage to catch the cat they can make his life pretty miserable. Similarly, a puppy have to be protected from a territorial bully of a cat that has, by virtue of his prior experiences, a lifelong hatred of dogs. Sometimes a dog in such a situation will learn to avoid a dangerous, unequable cat. In other instances, the cat may spend his life in trepidation of the dog. Neither of these situations is desirable be avoided by prevention or rehoming of one or other of the feuding parties.

If you are thinking of mixing species, ask whether they are predatory, aggressive, territorial, solitary, or gregarious. It will give you the genetic drift on what to expect. Then ask, how the species was raised, with whom, by whom, where, and when. Next you should also look into and additional information about prior interspecies interactions of the species in question.

Here is a clip to show that IT IS POSSIBLE for a cat and a dog to live together in harmony. Here, it shows how an adult dog attend to a kitten who had just lost its mother.

Here is another video showing how Lacey, a 14 week old puppy, and Hannah, a 8 month old cat, get along together.

Always give the cat and the dog their own territory. Do not force them together to let them settle down at their own speed. You will need time and patience if these two animals from entirely different species are to become friends. It probably will happen eventually, but until you are absolutely sure, DO NOT LEAVE THEM ALONE TOGETHER!

References:
Cats and Dogs: Peaceful Coexistance, Cat Care Tips, Retrieved on 19 March 2008
Cats Living with Dogs, Petplace.com, Retrived on 20 March 2008
Cat meets Dog, will they live together peacfully?, Gwen Bailey, Retrieved on 19 March 2008
Call Me Friend, A Kitten and a Dog, Retrived 19 March 2008
Are Cats and Dogs really Enemies?, Retrieved 29 March 2008
Cat and Dog Best Friend, Retrieved 30 March 2008

"Airborne Geckos take a Little Trip, YEAH!"

TAN YU-YANG KENNETH — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:03:00 GMT

'Airborne' geckos! Now that must be a real good sight. Imagine, a gecko trying to keep itself up on a slippery, vertical surface when suddenly, *Slip*, and it falls off!

(Credit: Robert Full/UC Berkeley, copyright PNAS/NAS 2008)
Watch It

Now isn't that a cool sight?

But what happens next? Surely the gecko does not fall flat on its face does it?

The gecko in question, Cosymbotus platyurus, or the flat-tailed house gecko of Southeast Asia lands perfectly feet-down in an awesome display of aerial acrobatics with only a flick of its tail!

According to Robert J. Full, "Initially, we thought the gecko's climbing ability was all in the feet, but now we know that this is clearly not true and the tail is critical." With the knowledge that geckos' tails are imperative in their climbing ability, researchers also found out that these tails come into use during perilous falls. Specifically, they rotate their fat-filled tail to counter-rotate their body and spread their legs and toes to parachute and glide to safety in a Superman posture! Read more here...

Watch It

Researchers have acknowledged the use of tails in other species of animals: Kangaroos lean on theirs, New World monkeys use their prehensile tails to grasp, but these are relatively static uses compared to the gecko in terms of high-speed climbing and gliding.

In my opinion, the gecko's active use of its tail is another functional explanation for its climbing and gliding ability. These abilities are essential for the gecko's survival, both in foraging for food and escaping from predators. I'm simply astounded that a simple mechanism of flicking its tail allows the gecko to reorient itself in mid-air, which can be akin to cats (which involves a more complex spine-twisting behaviour)! The instinctual nature of such tail use in climbing and gliding behaviour is perhaps an evolutionary adaptation that would enable them to use these 'acrobatic skills' in their natural habitat of the forest!

Furthermore, what is even more interesting is that researchers believe that this new discovery could inspire engineers in applications such as "new climbing and gliding robots as well as highly manoeuvarable unmanned aerial vehicles." Imagine the wonderful applications that humans can apply to their own lives drawing on research about animal behaviour and functions!

For an appreciation of how other species use their tails:

"Anna's Hummingbird Chirps with Its Tail During Display Dives" (Feb 5, 2008)

"New World Monkeys and their Gadgets" (Feb, 2003)

For a look at other interesting applications from gecko research:

"Scientists Prove How Geckos Stick, Unlock Secret to Making Articial Gecko Glue" (Aug 28, 2002)

"Engineers Create Gecko-inspired, High friction Micro-fibers" (Aug 23, 2006)

"Sticky Questions tackled in Gecko Research" (Jan 2, 2008)

Citation:

University of California - Berkeley (2008, March 18). Gecko's 'Active' Tail Key To Preventing Falls And Aerial Maneuvers. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/03/080317171030.htm

Tail 'key' for gecko acrobatics, By Rebecca Morelle. BBC News. 18 March 2008