Carpenter Ants Exhibit Advanced Medical Behavior Through Life-Saving Amputations

New research reveals Florida carpenter ants perform selective leg amputations to increase survival rates among injured nestmates.

Researchers observed ants performing amputations on severely injured nestmates, improving their survival chances.
The ants can diagnose the severity of wounds and decide whether amputation or wound care is necessary.
Amputations are performed only on upper-leg injuries to prevent infections from spreading.
Lower-leg injuries are treated with extensive wound cleaning instead of amputation.
This is the first recorded instance of non-human animals performing purposeful amputations to save lives.