Mountain Gorilla Munchies

In the May 5th 2006 issue of Science/AAAS, this random sample edited by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee explains why Mountain Gorillas, and possibly other primates, crave rotting wood.

Mountain gorillas love to munch on rotting wood, and now we know why: The food is a source of sodium. Researchers from Cornell University reported in a study published online in Biology Letters on 25 April that gorillas in Uganda get more than 95% of their sodium requirements from decaying wood, which makes up only 4% of their diet. They also found that the apes avoided timber with low sodium content. The researchers plan to see if this taste for salty wood is common in other primate species.