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Eloy Rodriguez at the University of California and Richard Wrangham at Harvard University have added a new word to the vocabulary of science. The reason for this new word is that they have discovered that animals use plants in medicinal ways to treat illness, and the word they have coined to describe and name this new discipline of science is zoopharmacognosy.

What has been discovered is that some animals systematically use plants to solve specific medical problems. It has been noticed, for example, that chimpanzees in Tanzania would swallow whole the rolled-up leaf of a plant called Aspilia. The leaves are large and covered with bristly hairs and have a very bitter taste. It was difficult to believe that the plant was being eaten as food, so scientists studied its chemical makeup to see if they could find a clue as to why the chimps eat it as we might take a pill. The results of the study showed that the plant eaten in this way gives the animal a large dose of thiarubrine-A. This drug has been studied at Purdue University where it has been shown to kill a variety of worms, fungi, and viruses. In larger amounts, it even attacks and kills the kind of cancer cells found in solid cancers of the colon and lung. Studies done on Japanese chimps have shown that, when they get diarrhea, they eat a plant called Veronia by splitting open the stems and sucking a bitter tasting juice from the pith. This juice has been shown to kill parasites, and it cured the diarrhea in some 20 hours.

During mating season in Brazil, the spider monkeys have been observed to start eating a fruit called monkey ear. Studies have shown that this fruit contains progesterone which promotes female fertility. Studies of female elephants in eastern Africa have shown that, right before giving birth, they eat a plant which is known to induce labor in human beings. Kodiak brown bears have been observed to take a plant known as Ligusticum porteri, chew up the root until it became a paste, and then rub it on their faces and all over their bodies. This plant contains coumarins—a chemical that repels fleas, ticks, and fungi. Field reports show that, after using the plant, the bears are calmer and less antagonistic.

There are several lessons to be learned from zoopharmacognosy. One is that we need to be careful as to what plants we allow to become extinct because many of them may offer cures to the medical problems of mankind. Another is that animals have been provided with knowledge that enables them to heal themselves through natural agents. How they get that knowledge can be a subject of debate, but since animals born in captivity know how to use the medicines, it seems to be instinctive—not learned. We would suggest that, in the design of the genetic code, an intelligence has provided a cure for what ails our animal friends. This design demands a designer.

Source: National Wildlife, December/January, 1994, pages 46-49.

—John Clayton, Dandy Designs, September/October, 1994

Cora Gail Trent
www.cgtrent.com

# posted by cgtrent @ 4:04 PM