Florida carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus) can save the lives of their nestmates by performing life-saving treatments on them.
This unusual behavior, which has only been seen in people before, shows how well the ants can work together and help each other.
Unique Medical Practices in the Animal Kingdom
A study led by behavioral ecologist Erik Frank from the University of Würzburg in Germany discovered that these ants help their hurt friends by either cleaning their wounds or cutting off their limbs. When the damage is to the femur (thigh), the ants carefully clean the wound before cutting off the leg.
On the other hand, tibia (lower leg) wounds can only be fixed by cleaning them. This difference in how animals are treated is unique in the animal world. Frank said that when talking about amputation behavior, this is the only animal case where another member of the same species cuts off a person's limb in a planned and clever way.
The team's tests showed that mortality rates for people with broken femurs who had an amputation went from less than 40% to 90% to 95%. On the other hand, mortality rates for tibia injuries went from 15% to 75% after cleaning.
Researchers used micro-CT scans to test their theory that the muscle tissue in the leg slows blood flow, giving surgeons more time to do a good job. On the other hand, cuts to the tibia spread infections more quickly, so it is better to clean them thoroughly. The team's findings were published on Tuesday in Current Biology.
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The Innate Medical System of Ants
In contrast to the African ant species Megaponera analis, which cleans cuts with antimicrobial secretions, Florida carpenter ants only use force. Even though they don't have any specialized glands, their treatments work very well, showing that they can figure out what injuries are and how to treat them based on where and how bad they are.
Frank said that the ants can assess a wound, tell if it's infected or not, and treat it properly over long periods with the help of other people. He also said that this medicine system is like the human one because it is complicated and useful.
Now, the researchers are looking into whether similar habits can be seen in other ant species that don't have antimicrobial glands. They want to probe further to learn how these ants can do such exact medical work and if they can feel pain.
In the animal kingdom, this discovery throws light on how medical care and social cooperation have changed over time. The fact that these ants worked together and were so smart shows how important it is to live with other people. Ants with broken femurs whose nestmates cut them off were surprisingly willing to participate in the process, showing a high level of social trust and cooperation.
The researchers will now look at other species of Camponotus to see if this kind of surgical behavior is common in ants that don't have antibiotic glands. They also want to examine how ant societies feel pain, which will help us learn more about their complicated social systems and medical practices.
Finding out that Florida carpenter ants do surgery shows how complex their social behaviors are and gives us a new way to look at natural medical solutions. As researchers continue to look into this, we may find even more surprising similarities between how ant societies work and how people treat illnesses.
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