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Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia has self-medicated using a paste made from plants to heal a large wound on his cheek, say scientists (www.bbc.com)

submitted 6 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/science@beehaw.org

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It is the first time a creature in the wild has been recorded treating an injury with a medicinal plant.

After researchers saw Rakus applying the plant poultice to his face, the wound closed up and healed in a month.

Scientists say the behaviour could come from a common ancestor shared by humans and great apes.

"They are our closest relatives and this again points towards the similarities we share with them. We are more similar than we are different," said biologist Dr Isabella Laumer at the Max Planck institute in Germany and lead author of the research.

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[–] t3rmit3@beehaw.org 19 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (4 children)

My s.o. and I were discussing tests for animal intelligence being too anthropocentric, and we've both come to the conclusion (based on more recent work in the field that is getting better at trying to assess an animal's intelligence on its own grounds, rather than our's) that there's going to be a major existential reckoning as this field progresses, because so many people do not realize the extent to which animals reason, think, and feel. If we ever reach the point of truly being able to understand what animals are thinking, we're likely going to be horrified at what we've been doing to them (even more than many of us already are).

[–] exocrinous@startrek.website 7 points 6 months ago

Human supremacists will define intelligence as being like a human and not like an animal, and then test animal intelligence on that measure.

[–] xilliah@beehaw.org 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I've always thought the idea that consciousness just suddenly starts with us makes no sense. I can't believe it exists within a vacuum.

Take the eye as analogy. Eagles might have the best eyes in one sense, but dragonflies have a panoramic view and see more colors.

There's also convergent evolution happening all over the place. If consciousness is useful for us, it must be for other animals too. Same for intelligence and so on.

[–] And009@lemmynsfw.com 5 points 6 months ago

Yea, I always knew dogs were smart. But after having them myself, the depth of emotional understanding and support they really provide was mind blowing

[–] BurningRiver@beehaw.org 3 points 6 months ago

My Labrador uses one toy to push another toy around the yard when he’s playing around. Technically he’s using tools. As far as i’m concerned, he’s pretty damn smart. We as humans just have the faculty to destroy the planet for our own personal gain. There are plenty of other creatures who have intelligent thoughts, we as humans can’t kill them fast enough I guess.