New study reports Orangutan use of a medicinal plant
Do animals use plants as medicine? Absolutely! I offer my thoughts on a new research article reporting an orangutan's use of a plant to heal a facial wound.
I've received numerous texts and emails from friends and colleagues about this exciting new research paper published today. Thanks, friends! In the study, the authors report on the active self-treatment of a facial wound by a male Sumatran orangutan. Incredibly, researchers observed the orangutan, named Rakus, not only consuming the leaves of a liana (vine) that are not a normal part of his diet but also chewing the leaves and applying the poultice directly to his facial wound. This is exciting because of the detailed documentation of this wound-healing practice based on firsthand observations by researchers.
The paper is freely available online, I encourage you to check it out:
Laumer, I.B., Rahman, A., Rahmaeti, T. et al. Active self-treatment of a facial wound with a biologically active plant by a male Sumatran orangutan. Sci Rep 14, 8932 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58988-7
My first question, of course, was ‘Which plant did Rakus use to heal his wound?’
Unfortunately, due to a major methods flaw in the study, I don’t think we have a credible answer to this question. I explain more below.
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