Aposematism: An Alternative Hypothesis on How We Discover Medicinal Organisms

The most widely accepted theories as to how primates select medicinal organisms are based on smelling and tasting bitter-and most of the times toxic-plants (Etkin and Ross 1982; Johns 1990). In primates, however, the senses of smell and taste are not as dominant as is vision. I present a perspective claiming that aposematism, the conspicuous coloration displayed by toxic organisms, may play an important role in human recognition of medicinal organisms. This paper represents an open invitation for ecological anthropologists and ethnobiologists to generate empirical data that can support the aposematic hypothesis of medicine selection.