Chimpanzees use crushed insects to treat wounds.

Unless you’re living near Dr. Zaius from the Planet of the Apes, you’re not going to find any primates with extensive medical knowledge. But there are real chimpanzees that have discovered a thing or two about makeshift medicine, using crushed insects as remedies for open wounds.

Whether or not those insects aid the healing process is an open question, but what we do know is that chimps use bugs and other natural remedies such as saliva and leaves to tend to injuries. One group of chimpanzees in Gabon, for instance, was seen using insects to treat injuries 76 times over a 15 month period, and another set of chimps in Uganda exhibited similar behaviors. The primates would typically catch flying insects, put the bugs between their lips, and then press the bug’s crushed body onto their or another chimp’s open wounds as treatment.