The Animals That Invented Medicine (Before Humans)

What the film says

1. Zoopharmacognosy, the scientific term for animal self-medication, comes from Greek words for animal, drug and knowing.

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2. Parasitized woolly bear caterpillars eat more pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which improves their survival, while too much harms unparasitized caterpillars.

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3. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on toxic milkweeds that reduce parasite growth in their offspring, which researchers called trans-generational medication.

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4. Under elevated CO2 the most medicinal milkweed species lost its medicinal properties, weakening monarchs' tolerance to the parasite.

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5. Urban birds in Mexico City line their nests with smoked cigarette butts, and nests with more butt material have fewer parasites. Fewer parasites reached heat traps containing smoked butts.

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6. Red Sea Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins queue up to rub against particular corals and a sponge, which contain 17 active metabolites (iScience, 2022).

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7. Mahale chimpanzees in Tanzania chew the pith of Vernonia amygdalina, a bitter plant with antiparasitic compounds.

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8. Chimpanzees in Gabon were recorded applying insects to their own wounds and to the wounds of others.

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9. The Sumatran orangutan Rakus chewed Fibraurea tinctoria leaves three days after a facial wound, applied the juice and covered the wound with the chewed leaves.

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10. Fibraurea tinctoria is used in traditional medicine and contains compounds with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity.

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11. Isabelle Laumer led the orangutan study.

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12. In house finch nests, a higher proportion of cigarette-butt material was linked to more signs of genotoxic damage in the birds' blood cells.

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13. According to the ancient naturalist Aelian, the Egyptians traced much of their medical knowledge to the wisdom of animals.

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