Patterns of mineral lick visitation by Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth Choloepus didactylus (Pilosa, Megalonychidae) in eastern Ecuador

Abstract

Geophagy involves the consumption of soil to supplement diets and to facilitate digestive processes. We used camera traps to document the use of a salt lick by Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth Choloepus didactylus (Linnaeus, 1758) from December 2014 to November 2015 in a lowland Ecuadorian forest. We obtained 201 videos of sloths and analyzed if rain or lunar-phase inf uenced these visits. Visits were positively correlated with monthly rainfall and negatively correlated with lunar illumination, but correlations were not signif cant. We consider three hypotheses for visiting licks: (a) to supplement their diet, (b) to help digestion, and ( ) to obtain water. RESUMEN La geofagia involucra consumo de tierra para complementar la dieta y facilitar procesos digestivos. Utilizamos cámaras para documentar el uso de un saladero por perezosos de dos dedos de Linnaeus Choloepus didactylus (Linnaeus, 1758), desde diciembre 2014 a noviembre 2015, en un bosque de tierras bajas ecuatoriano. Obtuvimos 201 videos y analizamos si la lluvia o la fase lunar inf uyeron en estas visitas. Estas se correlacionaron positivamente con precipitación mensual y negativamente con iluminación lunar, pero las correlaciones no fueron signif cativas. Consideramos tres hipótesis para visitar saladeros: (a) complementar dieta, (b) ayudar a la digestión y (c) obtener agua. Geophagy is the deliberate and regular consumption of soils, clay, and related mineral substances (Abrahams & Parsons 1996; Wilson 2003), as a method for animals to supplement their diets (e.g., mineral supplements) or facilitate digestive processes (e.g., detoxif cation of plant secondary compounds), or both (Kreulen 1985; Gilardi et al. 1999; Krishnamani & Mahaney 2000; Voigt et al. 2008). As such, it is closely related to the health of individuals and populations (Molina et al. 2014). Reasons why a given taxon consumes a given soil at a given time are poorly understood (Brightsmith 2004), and remain speculative (Abrahams 1999). It is commonly agreed that the practice of geophagy may serve a wide variety of purposes for different taxa, and that there is no single explanation for it (Wilson 2003). Reibido el 6 de diciembre de 2018. Aceptado el 27 de enero de 2019. Editor asociado: Agustín Abba. Versión on-line ISSN 2618-4788 http://doi.org/10.31687/saremNMS.19.0.07