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MOSCOW, July 3. Ants of the species Camponotus floridanus became the first animals after humans to perform amputations on their relatives for medical reasons, Swiss and Japanese scientists wrote in an article for the scientific journal Current Biology.
Representatives of the genus Camponotus do not have a special gland characteristic of ants, releasing an antibiotic substance for treating wounds. During the experiment, scientists damaged the ants' leg in the hip area. Relatives of the wounded ants would bite the leg above the thigh until the limb fell off. According to the scientists, this treatment significantly increased the survival rate of injured individuals.
“Our study describes the first human example of the use of amputations to treat infected individuals in animals,” the authors noted.
Furthermore, insects have shown that they are able to change treatment strategies depending on the position of the wound. When a limb was damaged near the end, the insects refused amputation and limited themselves to licking the wound.
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