Wild Pharmacists: The Surprising Ways Animals Self-Medicate

Going to the doctor or reaching for an over-the-counter drug when you’re feeling sick may seem like uniquely human activities. After all, when’s the last time you saw a pigeon with a bum wing sporting a cast? But as scientists are steadily learning, the basis of medicine—the act of doing something to relieve or prevent illness—extends far past the origins of humanity. In his upcoming book, Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves, Emory University biologist Jaap de Roode takes the reader through a breezy and fun exploration into the complex world of animal medication. “There are actually so many animals that have these amazing abilities to medicate themselves, their offspring, and their brothers and sisters.” The book starts with de Roode’s research on how monarch butterflies protect their young from parasites by laying eggs on milkweed plants with higher levels of a particular toxin. From there, he cites the work of many other scientists to detail how ch ... Read full article.