title: Understanding geophagy in animals: standard procedures for sampling soils.
abstract: Geophagy or soil ingestion is a multidisciplinary phenomenon that has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years; who have sought to understand why a large number of animals consume natural earths. To find out why animals ingest soils, it is of paramount importance to establish standard methods to analyze comestible soil. Researchers have used different methods to examine soils ingested by animals, often with incomplete or inconclusive results. To make meaningful comparisons among studies, it is necessary to perfect research designs and establish standard methods to evaluate and analyze geophagy in animals.
authors.affiliation: Geomorphology and Pedology Laboratory, Atkinson College, York University, 4700 Keele Street, North York, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3. bmahaney@yorku.ca
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Mahaney
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krishnamani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D012987:Soil; D013048:Specimen Handling
chemical_list: D012987:Soil