Self-medicating to Prevent Malaria

photograph of brown and black bird perched on a branch eating a seed

Biological Strategy

House sparrow

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Image: Michael Brace / Flickr / Some rights reserved

Protect From Microbes

In living systems, microbes play important roles, such as breaking down organic matter and maintaining personal and system health. But they also pose threats. Bacteria can be pathogens that cause diseases. Some bacteria create colonies called biofilms that can coat surfaces, reducing their effectiveness–for example, inhibiting a leaf’s ability to photosynthesize. Living systems must have strategies for protecting from microbes that cause disease or become so numerous that they create an imbalance in the system. At the same time, living systems must continue living in harmony with other microbes. Some living systems kill microbes. Others repel without killing to reduce the chances that microbes will adapt to the lethal strategy and become resistant to it. For example, some pea seedlings exude a chemical that inhibits biofilm buildup.

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Birds

Class Aves (“bird”): Eagles, hawks, sparrows, parrots

Birds are evolutionary engineering marvels. They are descended from dinosaurs, but are far from our idea of heavy, scaly reptiles. Of the specific adaptions that set them apart, most notable is flight—although some mammals can fly, birds take the prize for abundance in the skies. Many birds have hollow, lightweight skeletons and specially-designed wings to help them stay aloft. They also have feathers made of keratin that help them stay warm, attract mates, and improve navigation and aerodynamics in flight. In contrast to their dinosaur ancestors, they lack true teeth and have replaced them with specialized beaks and bills.

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House sparrows protect themselves from malaria by lining their nests with and eating quinine-containing leaves from the paradise flower tree.

Image: Ltshears / Wikimedia Commons /

1=House Sparrow Male ''Passer domesticus''. Photo taken in Louisville Kentucky.

Image: Lestat (Jan Mehlich) / Wikimedia Commons /

Image: Wikimedia Commons /

Young house sparrows in their nest|Source=own work

Image: User:Cactus26 / Wikimedia Commons /

Distribution Map of Passer domesticus

“During an outbreak of malaria in Calcutta during 1998, Dr. Dushim Sengupta and fellow scientists at Calcutta’s Center for Nature Conservation and Human Survival were surprised to witness house sparrows lining their nests with (and also eating) leaves from the paradise flower tree (Caesalpina pulcherrima), a species whose leaves are rich in the anti-malarial drug quinine. Confirming that their choice of leaves was deliberate, the sparrows swiftly gathered fresh leaves of this same species when the scientists removed those already lining their nests.” (Shuker 2001:216-217)

Last Updated August 18, 2016

References

Book

The Hidden Powers of Animals: Uncovering the Secrets of Nature

Marshall Editions Ltd. | 26/02/2021 | Dr. Karl P. N. Shuker

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