May 3, 2022 05:02 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-...ny-mammals
INTRO: Olivier Kaisin, a Ph.D. student at the University of Liège and at São Paulo State University, and his team uncovered the unusual behavior while conducting research on black tamarins. Notably, camera footage captured members of this monkey species – not known for their sociability – visiting cabreúvas (Myroxylon peruiferum) trees in groups.
“We saw the tamarin group rubbing on this tree and we first thought they were scent marking, marking territory, because they often do that,” Kaisin says. A closer look revealed something else.
This species of tree is commonly used in traditional medicine for a variety of ailments in humans. Cabreúvas produce a resin that is believed to help treat scabies, dysentery and urinary infections. Meanwhile its bark is thought to function as an antibiotic, kill off Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae and work as an anti-fungal substance. It’s also used as a perfume because of its peculiar and pungent scent, reminiscent of honey and freshly cut pine, says Kaisin.
The team set up more camera traps to investigate what the black tamarins were doing. That revealed the behavior wasn’t limited to this one animal...
[...] A 'Universal Pharmacy'. Álvaro Mezcua is a Ph.D. student at Complutense University of Madrid who has studied the history of zoopharmacognosy. He was not involved in the Atlantic Forest study and says that various things could motivate the behavior in these animals toward the tree. “Sometimes it is just a matter of taste, something they enjoy eating, smelling, or rubbing their fur for social or territorial reasons,” he says.
Given that these trees are thought to possess a whole host of benefits, he believes self-medication is a strong possibility: “[I]t is more than likely that the various mammal species know perfectly how and when to use them in order to benefit from their prophylactic and/or therapeutic properties.” (MORE - details)
INTRO: Olivier Kaisin, a Ph.D. student at the University of Liège and at São Paulo State University, and his team uncovered the unusual behavior while conducting research on black tamarins. Notably, camera footage captured members of this monkey species – not known for their sociability – visiting cabreúvas (Myroxylon peruiferum) trees in groups.
“We saw the tamarin group rubbing on this tree and we first thought they were scent marking, marking territory, because they often do that,” Kaisin says. A closer look revealed something else.
This species of tree is commonly used in traditional medicine for a variety of ailments in humans. Cabreúvas produce a resin that is believed to help treat scabies, dysentery and urinary infections. Meanwhile its bark is thought to function as an antibiotic, kill off Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae and work as an anti-fungal substance. It’s also used as a perfume because of its peculiar and pungent scent, reminiscent of honey and freshly cut pine, says Kaisin.
The team set up more camera traps to investigate what the black tamarins were doing. That revealed the behavior wasn’t limited to this one animal...
[...] A 'Universal Pharmacy'. Álvaro Mezcua is a Ph.D. student at Complutense University of Madrid who has studied the history of zoopharmacognosy. He was not involved in the Atlantic Forest study and says that various things could motivate the behavior in these animals toward the tree. “Sometimes it is just a matter of taste, something they enjoy eating, smelling, or rubbing their fur for social or territorial reasons,” he says.
Given that these trees are thought to possess a whole host of benefits, he believes self-medication is a strong possibility: “[I]t is more than likely that the various mammal species know perfectly how and when to use them in order to benefit from their prophylactic and/or therapeutic properties.” (MORE - details)