Bat mums turn to clay for the kids
7 May 2008 by Evoluted New Media
Zoologists have found that bats overcome toxins in their diet with a love for mineral water and clay.
Zoologists have found that bats overcome toxins in their diet with a love for mineral water and clay.
 |
| Bats combat the 'bad' bits of vegetables and fruits by drinking mineral-rich water |
Researchers from Berlin Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Boston University and Cornell University have found that bats counter this problem by drinking large amounts of mineral-rich water and clay to detoxify the damaging compounds they ingest through the fruit.
These so called ‘mineral licks’ are visited by many species including tapirs and birds who drink from them to meet their daily mineral requirements. The local African people also make use of the mineral-rich water and clay and consume it during pregnancy and lactation - sharing the solution with the bats.
Studying the bats of the Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador revealed that the female bats could compensate for the toxins in the fruit by visiting the mineral licks frequently during pregnancy and lactation - bat mothers have particularly high mineral needs as juveniles cannot be weaned until they are almost adult size.
By Leila Sattary
