Geophagy in Chimpanzees {Pan trogrlodytes schweinfurthii) of the Budongo Forest Reserve Uganda: A Multidisciplinary Study
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Date
2006
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer, New York, NY.
Abstract
Geophagy occurs widely among primate species (Krishnamani & Mahaney,
2000). While reported for chimpanzees in the wild since the 1960s (Hladik,
1977; Nishida & Uehara, 1983; Goodall, 1986), the geochemical and behavioral
study of geophagy in relation to self-medication (Huffman, 1997) was not
initiated until the mid-1990s, the first being that of Mahaney and Huffman.
This work began in Tanzania with the analysis of termite mound soils, behavioral
and parasitological data collected from the Mahale Mountains National
Park (Mahaney etui, 1996b; 1998; Aufreiter etal, 2001; Ketch etal, 2001).
Further analyses have included termite soils eaten by chimpanzees in Gombe
National Park, Tanzania, and exposed subsurface clays eaten by chimpanzees in
the Kibale National Park, Uganda (Mahaney etal., 1997,1998; Aufreiter etd.,
2001). Geophagy has recently been noted to occur in a fourth East African
population, the Sonso community in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Western
Uganda. Early published studies from Budongo did not report any kind of soil
eating by chimpanzees. However, more recently, Reynolds etal. (1998) referred
to the eating of riverbank soil and other authors have noted sporadic termite
mound soil eating by chimpanzees in this forest (e.g., D. Quiatt in Reynolds
et al.y 1998:335; Newton-Fisher, 1999a,b). Termite mounds of the species
CubiUrmesspeciosuszrc present in the Budongo forest (Newton-Fisher, 1999b).
At Gombe, chimpanzees consume Macrotermes with the aid of termite fishing
tools inserted in a mound's ventilation ducts (Goodall, 1986). Reference
is made to the consumption of mound soils of Pseudacanthotermes spnigcr in
Mahale, as being distinct from the consumption of termite mound soil there
(Uehara, 1982). In the case of Cubiurmes 2it Budongo, however, chimpanzees
consume termites along with lumps of earth wrenched from termite mounds.
While information exists on the consumption of termites, little consideration is
given to the depth reached by termite species. Pomeroy (1976) cites Pseudacanthotermes
2LS a builder of smaller mounds in Uganda. Cubitermes humiverus
is also a builder of small mounds that are characteristically mushroom-shaped.
This species' shallow activity in the soil, unlike the other mound builders, is likely
to produce high organic contents in mound soils, a characteristic antithetic to
geophagy. Furthermore, nowhere is there a detailed analysis of soils that provides
information on the different structural components of these mounds.
When considering the ingestion of termite mound soils, this information is
important for increasing our understanding of their selection by chimpanzees.
Description
Keywords
Geophagy, Chimpanzees, Budongo Forest Reserve Uganda
Citation
Tweheyo, M., Reynolds, V., Huffman, M. A., Pebsworth, P., Goto, S., Mahaney, W. C., ... & Hancock, R. G. (2006). Geophagy in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) of the Budongo forest reserve, Uganda. In Primates of western Uganda (pp. 135-152). Springer, New York, NY.