Geophagy Geophagia: Mineral or Salt licking by Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta): Geophagous macaque

#Geophagy #geophagia #minerallicking #saltlick #salados #saladeros #collpas Geophagy or geophagia- Mineral licking or salt licking by Rhesus Monkey (an old-world monkey or macaque- Macaca mulatta) https://www.instagram.com/rashmisfoodtwist/ Avail Amazon Prime benefits- https://www.amazon.in/tryprime?tag=rdevarshi-21 Many animals exhibit behaviour of approaching areas which are rich in salt or mineral deposits and licking salt or mineral rich rocks or soil. These areas are known as Mineral licks or as “salados,” “saladeros,” or “collpas” in tropical and temperate ecosystems where a large diversity of mammals and birds come regularly to feed on soil. This phenomenon of licking salt or eating soil is known as geophagy or geophagia. The reasons for vertebrate geophagy are not completely understood, animals are argued to obtain a variety of nutritional and health benefits/ advantages from the ingestion of soil at mineral licks. A mineral lick (also known as a salt lick) is a place where animals can go to lick essential mineral nutrients from a deposit of salts and other minerals. These can be of two types- 1. Natural 2. Artificial (such as blocks of salt that farmers place in pastures for livestock). It is believed that natural licks provide essential elements such as phosphorus and the biometals (sodium, calcium, iron, zinc, and trace elements) required in the springtime for horns/antlers, bone, muscle and other growth in deer and other wildlife, such as moose, elephants, tapirs, cattle, woodchucks, domestic sheep, fox squirrels, mountain goats and porcupines. Salt licks play an important in ecosystems which are poor in general availability of nutrients. Harsh weather exposes salty mineral deposits that draw animals from miles away for a taste of needed nutrients. It is thought that certain fauna can detect calcium in salt licks. Geophagia is not uncommon in the animal kingdom. Galen, the Greek philosopher and physician, was the first to record the use of clay by sick or injured animals in the second century AD. This type of geophagia has been documented in many species of mammals, birds, reptiles, butterflies and isopods, especially among herbivores. Chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda, have been observed to consume soil rich in kaolinite clay shortly before or after consuming plants including Trichilia rubescens, which possesses antimalarial properties in the laboratory. Some species of bats regularly visit mineral or salt licks to increase mineral consumption. An agreement has not been reached whether geophagia in bats is primarily for nutritional supplementation or detoxification as a study by Voigt et al. demonstrated that both mineral-deficient and healthy bats visit salt licks at the same rate. Voigt et al. concluded that the primary purpose for bat presence at salt licks is for detoxification purposes, compensating for the increased consumption of toxic fruit and seeds. Further reading:- Mineral Licks, Geophagy, and Biogeochemistry of North American Ungulates by Iowa State Pr: https://amzn.to/327CjxA Geophagy: Fieldiana, Anthropology, V. 18, No.2 by Franklin Classics Trade Press: https://amzn.to/2ZhH2e7 Geophagy: Fieldiana, Anthropology, V. 18, No.2 by Franklin Classics Trade Press: https://amzn.to/2OgfWxQ Geophagia: History, Epidemiology, and Etiology by CRC Press: https://amzn.to/38Jp6vW Geophagy - Primary Source Edition by Nabu Press: https://amzn.to/2BOVEc9 Geophagy by Nabu Press: https://amzn.to/2OdXKor Eating Behaviors: Coprophagia, Geophagy, Carnivore, Inedia, Calorie Restriction, Fasting, Table Manners, Pica, Intraguild Predation by Books LLC, Wiki Series: https://amzn.to/38N37El Ethnobiology: Ethnobiologists, Geophagy, Zooarchaeology, Darrell A. Posey, Wila, Ernst Von Bibra, Brent Berlin, Roy Ellen, Ethnoecology by Books LLC, Wiki Series: https://amzn.to/3ejSQ3E Pica: A Short Story: https://amzn.to/2OgzlhU - General article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_lick - Andres Link Nelson Galvis Erin Fleming Anthony Di Fiore : Patterns of mineral lick visitation by spider monkeys and howler monkeys in Amazonia: are licks perceived as risky areas? https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajp.20910 - Christian C. Voigt ,Krista A. Capps,Dina K. N. Dechmann,Robert H. Michener,Thomas H. Kunz: Nutrition or Detoxification: Why Bats Visit Mineral Licks of the Amazonian Rainforest - Ayotte, J. B.; Parker, K. L.; Arocena, J. M.; Gillingham, M. P. (2006). "Chemical composition of lick soils: Functions of soil ingestion by four ungulate species". Journal of Mammalogy. 87 (5): 878–888. doi:10.1644/06-MAMM-A-055R1.1 licking salt,geophagia,salt licking,natural lick,Geophagy now,lick soils,collpas,geophagous,salt lick,mineral lick,Rhesus Monkey,saldos,saladeros,kaolinite clay,pica,artificial lick,eating soil,licking stones,licking rocks,Old world monkey,saltlicks,Salt lick natural,licking blocks,animal salt licks

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