Nutrition or Detoxification: Why Bats Visit Mineral Licks of the Amazonian Rainforest
Date
2008
DOI
Authors
Voigt, Christian C.
Capps, Krista A.
Dechmann, Dina K. N.
Michener, Robert H.
Kunz, Thomas H.
Version
OA Version
Citation
2008. "Nutrition or Detoxification: Why Bats Visit Mineral Licks of the
Amazonian Rainforest," PLoS ONE. vol. 3 issue. 4 .
Abstract
Many animals in the tropics of Africa, Asia and South America regularly
visit so-called salt or mineral licks to consume clay or drink clay-saturated water. Whether
this behavior is used to supplement diets with locally limited nutrients or to buffer the
effects of toxic secondary plant compounds remains unclear. In the Amazonian rainforest,
pregnant and lactating bats are frequently observed and captured at mineral licks. We
measured the nitrogen isotope ratio in wing tissue of omnivorous short-tailed fruit bats,
Carollia perspicillata, and in an obligate fruit-eating bat, Artibeus obscurus, captured at
mineral licks and at control sites in the rainforest. Carollia perspicillata with a
plant-dominated diet were more often captured at mineral licks than individuals with an
insect-dominated diet, although insects were more mineral depleted than fruits. In contrast,
nitrogen isotope ratios of A. obscurus did not differ between individuals captured at
mineral lick versus control sites. We conclude that pregnant and lactating fruit-eating bats
do not visit mineral licks principally for minerals, but instead to buffer the effects of
secondary plant compounds that they ingest in large quantities during periods of high energy
demand. These findings have potential implications for the role of mineral licks for mammals
in general, including humans.