Nutrition or detoxification: why bats visit mineral licks of the Amazonian rainforest.

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 re...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Christian C Voigt, Krista A Capps, Dina K N Dechmann, Robert H Michener, Thomas H Kunz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2008-04-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2292638?pdf=render