Aromatic tubers from the underground are apparently also very popular with bonobos: Our animal relatives from the Congo region introduced scientists to a truffle-like mushroom. The previously undescribed species was therefore given the name Hysterangium bonobo. The special feature of the underground growing fruit bodies is their strangely crystalline outer layer. Probably there is still a great variety of mushrooms in the region, which is known to the locals but not to science, say the researchers.
All over the world they shoot out of forests and meadows: the fruiting bodies of most edible mushrooms can be seen with the naked eye. But there are famous exceptions: the truffles. In addition to the culinary important species, this term describes other mushroom families that develop tuber-like fruiting bodies in the subsurface. The so-called real truffles from the genus Tuber are among the most expensive foods in the world. It is well known that humans use the fine noses of dogs or pigs to find them: they can sniff out the fine aromas of the tubers underground.
Mysterious tubers on the menu
The smell and taste of the different representatives of the truffle-like mushrooms have a function: It is in the interest of the mushrooms when their fruiting bodies are eaten. Because animals contribute to the spread of the spores, which can survive the digestive system without damage. In the case of Hysterangium bonobo, this service appears to be performed by great apes, reports the international research team. As co-author Alexander Georgiev of Bangor University in Wales reports, observations of bonobos (Pan paniscus) living in the wild in the Kokolopori bonobo reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo formed the basis of the study: he saw them eating the tubers.
After the observations, Georgiev collected samples of the tubers for experts to determine. It turned out that it is a species from the group of so-called tail truffles (hysterangium), which science was previously unknown. The emphasis is on “science,” emphasize the researchers. As it turned out, the local people from the Kokolopori people had known the mushroom for a long time. They call him “Simbokilo”.
New only to science
They use the tubers as bait in traps for small mammals, the researchers report. However, the kokolopori have a friendly relationship with the bonobos and apparently they already knew that the monkeys also have a preference for the tubers. “The traditional knowledge about the diet of animals such as bonobos, duikers and rodents, which also includes new aspects for science, should be valued, preserved and protected,” says co-author Albert Lotana Lokasola from the University of Kisangani in northern Congo.
As the researchers report, the fruiting body of the “bonobo truffle” looks like a small potato and has a special feature: the irregularly shaped outer layer has crystalline, encrusted threads that may serve as protection or to spread the aroma, the scientists say. The structure is the fruiting body – the actual living being, like other representatives of the basidiomycetes, consists of a fine mesh that runs through the soil over a wide area. It is connected to the plant roots and presumably also makes an important contribution to the nutrient supply of the trees in the case of Hysterangium bonobo.
Special delicacies?
Apparently, the tubers of this fungus in turn serve some animals as nutrients, say the researchers. “We don’t exactly know why the bonobos eat the truffles,” says Georgiev. “But maybe you can put it simply that they taste good. Personally, I love mushrooms and have never thought about what nutritionally I can get from them. They’re just delicious, ”says the scientist. The bonobos will likely find the tubers by the tempting smell that also seeps from the ground. Although little is known about the species, Hysterangium bonobo may have some similar traits to the truffle, famous for its high culinary value, the scientists say.
In conclusion, lead study author Todd Elliott of the University of New England at Armidale reiterated: “While we are presenting a ‘new’ species to the Western scientific community, it is in reality one that has been native to the area for generations is known. This makes it clear that we as scientists need to take the time to interview and learn from indigenous people or indigenous people. Because often they already know very well about the organisms that we consider new, ”says the scientist.
Source: Florida Museum of Natural History, specialist article: Mycologia, doi: 10.1080 / 00275514.2020.1790234