Soil in the Mt. Longevity, Taiwan, eaten by Formosan macaques, was analyzed to determine the possible stimulus or stimuli for geophagy. I attempted to test the mineral supplementation hypothesis and to document macaques using particle size. I studied macaques soil-eating behavior from July 2000 to April 2002 in the Mt. Longevity, Taiwan, and analyzed soil samples eaten and uneaten by Formosan macaque for physical-chemical properties and geochemistry in the study area. The results show that samples of soil eaten contained relatively high iron ( 3.6% ) and aluminum ( 16.0% ). However, the concentration of samarium was significantly lower in soil from samples eaten than in the random samples. No difference in concentration of the remaining fifteen elements ( magnesium¡Bcalcium¡B chromium¡Bmanganese¡Bcopper¡Barsenic¡Bstrontium¡Bbarium¡Blanthanum¡Bcerium¡Bneodymium¡Bytterbium¡Bphosphorous¡Bsulfate¡Bchlorides ) and Nitrate nitrogen was found between these two groups of soil samples. Geophagy occurred at a high rate of 0.31 monkey per hour with an elevated frequency in the reproduction season. The density of geophagy has been estimated as 1.6¡Ñ103 individuals per km2 . Frequency of male geophagy were recorded highest in September. Frequency of Females eating soil was recorded mainly between February and April. The ingested soils were significantly richer in clay than control soils. This study supports the hypothesis that mineral supplementation is a major factor for Formosan macaque engaging in geophagy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0729102-133323 |
| Date | 29 July 2002 |
| Creators | Chia, San-Ming |
| Contributors | G. Agoramoorthy, Hin-Kiu Mok, Minna J. Hsu |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | Cholon |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0729102-133323 |
| Rights | unrestricted, Copyright information available at source archive |
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