Suggested extinct coevolutionary partnersĮxtremely limited or unrecorded seed dispersal in areas where elephants were extirpated at least one Kenyan forest lacks seedlings and younger trees altogether. Įcological indicators of missing dispersal partners "Looks, feels, smells, and tastes" like other fruits known to be dispersed by megafauna where megafauna still exists.In colder climates, the fruit stays on the branch for a prolonged time, keeping it away from predation by ineffectual seed dispersers like rodents. If tropical, the fruit drops on or just before ripening, stopping monkeys from eating them.The seeds benefit from-or even require-physical or chemical abrasion to germinate.They are also difficult to separate from the pulp, which is tasty and soft, to deter seed spitting. Seeds deter or elude being ground up by teeth through having a thick, tough or hard endocarp or bitter, peppering or nauseating toxins.Indehiscent fruit that retains its seeds upon ripening.Fruit grows on or close to the trunk, or on stout branches.Large fruit, best suited to be consumed whole by large animals without seed loss.Since the Holocene extinction, large herbivores have become extinct outside Africa and to a lesser extent Asia, leaving these fruits without a suitable dispersal mechanism in the absence of agriculture.Ĭommon megafaunal dispersal traits Īvocados are exceptionally fatty fruits, with seeds far too large to be successfully dispersed by any wild animal alive in the Americas. The megafauna dispersal syndrome refers to those attributes of fruits that evolved in order to attract megafauna (animals that weigh or weighed more than 44 kilograms) as primary dispersal agents. They possess a tough rind or husk, emit a strong odor when ripe but retain a dull coloration of brown, burnished yellow, orange or remain green, because most mammals have a powerful sense of smell but poor color vision in general, primates being the most notable exception. Fruits categorized as mammal syndrome are bigger than bird fruits. The kind of fruits that birds are attracted to are usually small, with only a thin protective skin, and the colors are red or dark shades of blue or purple.
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