There has been some mention of what is consciousness, when did consciousness begin and to what extent other animals other than humans have consciousness, I believe consciousness is universal with animals with a central nervous system at least, and evolved to be more complex over time. Some even propose that many invertebrates show attributes of consciousness,
The following is an example of advanced intelligence in Orangutans: In a first, an orangutan is seen using a medicinal plant to treat injury
Researchers working in Sumatra observed a wild orangutan tending to an open wound on his face. The male orangutan repeatedly rubbed chewed-up leaves of a plant that they normally don't have much to do with, but is known to have medicinal properties, on a facial wound, making it the first time such self-medicating has been clearly observed in a primate
Source: In a first, an orangutan was seen treating his wound with a medicinal plant
After an orangutan hurt his face, scientists observed him chewing a plant known to relieve pain and applying a paste made from the leaves to the injury.
A facial wound on Rakus, an adult flanged male orangutan, two days before he applied a plant paste to the wound
An orangutan named Rakus hit a rough patch in the summer of 2022.
Researchers heard a fight between male orangutans in the treetops of a rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia; a day later, they spotted Rakus sporting a pink wound below his right eyelid.
A chunk of flesh about the size and shape of a puzzle piece was missing. When Rakus, who is most likely in his 30s, belted out a long call, the researchers noticed another wound inside his mouth.
Over the next several days, researchers followed Rakus at a distance — and saw something so surprising they wound up reporting it in great detail in the journal Scientific Reports.
According to their study, published Thursday, Rakus was observed repeatedly chewing on the leaves of a particular liana plant over several days. The climbing vine is not a typical food for orangutans, but it is known to humans as a pain reliever.
On at least one occasion, Rakus made a paste from the chewed leaves and applied it to his face. It’s the first time an animal has been seen applying medicine to a skin wound.
“It’s the first documentation of external self-medication — the application of leaves, I would argue, as a poultice, like humans do to treat wounds and pains,” said Michael Huffman, an associate professor at the Wildlife Research Center at Kyoto University in Japan, who was not involved in the new study.
Rakus’ wound never showed signs of becoming infected, and it closed up within a week.
The discovery is new evidence that orangutans are able to identify and use pain-relieving plants. A growing body of research suggests other animal species also self-medicate, with varying levels of sophistication.
The researchers behind the study think that great apes’ ability to identify medicines and treat wounds could trace back to a shared ancestor with humans.
New evidence that orangutans self-medicate
The discovery was possible only because Rakus spends his days in a protected area of rainforest called the Suaq Balimbing research area, in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park.
Researchers have been observing orangutans there since 1994. Today, about 150 call the area home. Rakus, who was first observed there in 2009, is either a resident or a frequent visitor.
Scientists often follow an individual orangutan in the area from early morning — when it leaves its night nest — until it builds a new night nest about 12 hours later.
“We don’t disturb the orangutan,” said an author of the new study, Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and cognitive biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany. “They completely tolerate us following them.”
Laumer said that researchers had never before observed orangutans in the area self-medicating like Rakus did and that it was not clear how he developed the behavior.
It’s possible Rakus learned to treat his wound through “individual innovation,” Laumer said, after he accidentally touched a finger to a wound with the pain-relieving leaf juice. Or he may have learned the behavior culturally, from other orangutans, early in life.
Orangutans learn socially and have been shown to be capable with tools. They develop sophisticated knowledge of foods from their mothers.
“They learn a lot about, for example, what types of fruit to eat, where to find them, when to find them, when they are ripe, how to process them,” Laumer said. “Some orangutans feed on up to 400 different plants. … This is quite some intensive knowledge that they actually need to acquire.”
The following is an example of advanced intelligence in Orangutans: In a first, an orangutan is seen using a medicinal plant to treat injury
Orangutan observed self-medicating to treat wound
05-03-2024, 01:33 PMResearchers working in Sumatra observed a wild orangutan tending to an open wound on his face. The male orangutan repeatedly rubbed chewed-up leaves of a plant that they normally don't have much to do with, but is known to have medicinal properties, on a facial wound, making it the first time such self-medicating has been clearly observed in a primate
Source: In a first, an orangutan was seen treating his wound with a medicinal plant
After an orangutan hurt his face, scientists observed him chewing a plant known to relieve pain and applying a paste made from the leaves to the injury.
A facial wound on Rakus, an adult flanged male orangutan, two days before he applied a plant paste to the wound
An orangutan named Rakus hit a rough patch in the summer of 2022.
Researchers heard a fight between male orangutans in the treetops of a rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia; a day later, they spotted Rakus sporting a pink wound below his right eyelid.
A chunk of flesh about the size and shape of a puzzle piece was missing. When Rakus, who is most likely in his 30s, belted out a long call, the researchers noticed another wound inside his mouth.
Over the next several days, researchers followed Rakus at a distance — and saw something so surprising they wound up reporting it in great detail in the journal Scientific Reports.
According to their study, published Thursday, Rakus was observed repeatedly chewing on the leaves of a particular liana plant over several days. The climbing vine is not a typical food for orangutans, but it is known to humans as a pain reliever.
On at least one occasion, Rakus made a paste from the chewed leaves and applied it to his face. It’s the first time an animal has been seen applying medicine to a skin wound.
“It’s the first documentation of external self-medication — the application of leaves, I would argue, as a poultice, like humans do to treat wounds and pains,” said Michael Huffman, an associate professor at the Wildlife Research Center at Kyoto University in Japan, who was not involved in the new study.
Rakus’ wound never showed signs of becoming infected, and it closed up within a week.
The discovery is new evidence that orangutans are able to identify and use pain-relieving plants. A growing body of research suggests other animal species also self-medicate, with varying levels of sophistication.
The researchers behind the study think that great apes’ ability to identify medicines and treat wounds could trace back to a shared ancestor with humans.
New evidence that orangutans self-medicate
The discovery was possible only because Rakus spends his days in a protected area of rainforest called the Suaq Balimbing research area, in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park.
Researchers have been observing orangutans there since 1994. Today, about 150 call the area home. Rakus, who was first observed there in 2009, is either a resident or a frequent visitor.
Scientists often follow an individual orangutan in the area from early morning — when it leaves its night nest — until it builds a new night nest about 12 hours later.
“We don’t disturb the orangutan,” said an author of the new study, Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and cognitive biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany. “They completely tolerate us following them.”
Laumer said that researchers had never before observed orangutans in the area self-medicating like Rakus did and that it was not clear how he developed the behavior.
It’s possible Rakus learned to treat his wound through “individual innovation,” Laumer said, after he accidentally touched a finger to a wound with the pain-relieving leaf juice. Or he may have learned the behavior culturally, from other orangutans, early in life.
Orangutans learn socially and have been shown to be capable with tools. They develop sophisticated knowledge of foods from their mothers.
“They learn a lot about, for example, what types of fruit to eat, where to find them, when to find them, when they are ripe, how to process them,” Laumer said. “Some orangutans feed on up to 400 different plants. … This is quite some intensive knowledge that they actually need to acquire.”
