AMERICANALMANAC (Ken Jacobs) - Animals have been treating their own injuries for decades — and scientists say humans should pay attention
Chimpanzees nursing wounds, ants performing amputations on nestmates, a growing body of research into animal self-medication suggests the natural world has been practicing medicine far longer than we have, and researchers believe it could reshape how humans discover new treatments. NPR's Short Wave podcast devoted a recent episode to the phenomenon, bringing on freelance science […] The post Animals have been treating their own injuries for decades — and scientists say humans should pay attention appeared first on American Almanac .
Chimpanzees nursing wounds, ants performing amputations on nestmates, a growing body of research into animal self-medication suggests the natural world has been practicing medicine far longer than we have, and researchers believe it could reshape how humans discover new treatments. NPR's Short Wave podcast devoted a recent episode to the phenomenon, bringing on freelance science journalist Mandy Nguyen to walk through what scientists have learned since Western researchers first started documenting the behavior in the late 1980s. The episode, published September 11, traces a line from early observations of chimpanzees at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to more recent discoveries, including ants that appear to amputate the injured…Open