Dolphins Treat Their Own Skin Conditions

They self-medicate using coral and sponges

Photo by Oleksandr Sushko on Unsplash

Preliminary research by Angela Ziltener et al. has revealed Indo-Pacific bottleneck dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) self-medicate their skin conditions by rubbing against specific coral. They choose particular corals which contain a minimum of 17 different metabolites, including antibacterial, antioxidative and estrogen-like…