Poop To The Rescue !

We all know Chinchillas as the rare cute and cuddly rodents, but an unlikely aspect of this animal is helping scientists to determine rain fall- its poop! Yes, i said it, poop! Scientists of the Chilean Atacama Desert are now saying that the feces from chinchillas are helping them to piece together the rainfall of the South American region over the last 1,400 years. The pile of poop , called middens, have been preserved in the dry climates of the Atacama Desert for thousands of years. Some even say the climate is so beneficial to preservation that bodies of people from hundreds of years ago are still there-some even say mummies!

The way Scientists measure the amount of rainfall from the middens is by first measuring the size of the pellets in the middens and than they determine the relationship between size of the pellets and the rainfall. After they figure that out they use the connection between the pellet size and rain by "measuring and radiocarbon dating the chinchillas poop. That shows scientists that if the size of the pellet changes, than most likely there are changes in the regions precipitation.

This knowledge is important not only for us in America, but for the people who may live in the Chilean Atacama region, it foretells the supply of water that they will get. Since Chinchillas are not the only rodents who let go middens, it is easy for us to determine rainfall in many other regions. It would help the earth too because meteorologist would not have to use technology to determine rainfall. Who would of thought that poop would act as a fortune teller ?!

SOURCE : http://news.discovery.com/earth/chinchilla-rainfall-chile.html