The Evolution of Megafruits

May 28, 2019 8:16 AM

Many fruiting plants in the apple family (Rosaceae) have small fruits, such as cherries, raspberries, and roses. These small fruits are easily swallowed by birds, which then disperse their seeds. However, certain trees in the family, such as apples, pears, quince, and peaches, evolved in the wild to be too large for a bird to disperse their seeds. Fossil and genetic evidence demonstrate that these large fruits evolved several million years before humans started cultivating them. So who did these large fruits evolve to attract?

Dr. Robert Nicholas Spengler III writes about the Origins of the Apple in Frontiers of Plant Science.

TLDR: Wild megafauna probably drove the evolution (and "domestication") of apples. After humans drove most of that megafauna extinct, we assumed the role. Unlike for cereals and other annual crops, we haven't added much through selective breeding.

I think it's beautiful that we took over the job of the creatures we drove extinct: it's as if we're doing penance for our sins.

also "megafruits" is my new favorite word

posted by ragtag (25 comments total)

I learned a few years ago that avocados evolved to be eaten whole by giant South American sloths. Thank you, megasloth. The world owes you much gratitude.
posted by ananci at 8:23 AM on May 28, 2019 [30 favorites]

There is an excellent book by Connie Barlow which covers plants and their relationship with extinct megafauna: The Ghosts of Evolution.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:52 AM on May 28, 2019 [8 favorites]

I just got back from the Mojave Desert, where all the Joshua trees are full of fruits. In the past, these would have been eaten by a Shasta ground sloth who would then disperse the seeds.

There is concern that without the ground sloths the Joshua trees will be unable to spread to new areas as their current locations become unsuitable due to climate change.
posted by ryanrs at 9:08 AM on May 28, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'm willing to try it.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 9:17 AM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

Eat the Joshua fruit! eat it
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:18 AM on May 28, 2019

I just like saying Nothrotheriops!
posted by sneebler at 9:18 AM on May 28, 2019

in place of the majestic ground sloth, apparently the jaguar will still eat avocados (whole)
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 9:33 AM on May 28, 2019

I think it's beautiful that we took over the job of the creatures we drove extinct: it's as if we're doing penance for our sins.

Kids, eat your fruit! There are hungry dinosaurs who WISH they could be eating that fruit right now!
posted by sallybrown at 9:43 AM on May 28, 2019 [7 favorites]

The original paper proposing the theory of "anachronistic fruits" in 1982—Neotropical anachronisms: The fruit the Gomphotheres ate—is pretty readable. And of course very cool!
posted by little onion at 9:44 AM on May 28, 2019

Then the gomphotheres are gone. The palm fruits fall as usual; in a month as many as 5000 accumulate below each fruit-bearing Scheelea palm. The first fruits to fall are picked up by agoutis, peccaries, and other animals that are soon satiated. As the pulp rots off fallen fruits beneath the parent palm, the bruchids oviposit on virtually all of the exposed nuts. The bulk of the seeds perish directly below the parent. Even if they escape the predators, the seedling from the undispersed seeds are overshadowed by an adult conspecific,* one of the strongest competitors in the habitat.
*of the same species

Pretty vivid writing for Science!
posted by little onion at 9:51 AM on May 28, 2019 [4 favorites]

ragtag: "TLDR: Wild megafauna probably"
Does megafauna here mean something more exotic than deer?
posted by team lowkey at 10:02 AM on May 28, 2019

team lowkey: Not necessarily. "I refer to megafauna as any animal, extant or extinct, larger than 40 kg."
posted by ragtag at 10:46 AM on May 28, 2019

Does megafauna here mean something more exotic than deer?


They don't want to be specific because it'll start a whole derail, but they mean bigfoot. It is clearly bigfoot.
posted by skewed at 1:00 PM on May 28, 2019 [12 favorites]

There is concern that without the ground sloths the Joshua trees will be unable to spread to new areas as their current locations become unsuitable due to climate change.

I've been moving wild plant seeds around for some time with a mind to this, e.g. desert plants in west Texas to eastern parts.

Kids, eat your fruit! There are hungry dinosaurs who WISH they could be eating that fruit right now!

Well, maybe more like hungry oreodonts, but your kids probably haven't heard of them.
posted by Bee'sWing at 1:27 PM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

I want Joshua fruit!
posted by Oyéah at 1:37 PM on May 28, 2019

This is totally cool and something I had never thought about before.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:46 PM on May 28, 2019

Something very funny to me about "If little animals eat little fruit, who eats big fruit???" And it's just *checks notes* big animals
posted by bleep at 5:55 PM on May 28, 2019 [16 favorites]

Hey, Big Fruit controls Central America and Hawaii. Don't underestimate them.
posted by Bee'sWing at 6:21 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

Question: this is an article about a book, but it’s all pretty academic stuff - is the use of the teleological “evolved to” and “adaptation for/to” just standard, accepted academic parlance? Is this so even in scientific papers?
(It’s a pet peeve/concern of mine, given that it contributes to misunderstanding both the timeframe and the randomness inherent in natural processes, and thus to misconceptions about evolution that often prove to be very resistant to revision.)

On a different note: is “It is important that we look past annual grasses, such as wheat and rice, when we study plant domestication.” alluding to a similar issue of bias in phytology as that of the invertebrates vs. vertebrates in zoology featured in a recent TIA segment?
posted by progosk at 11:17 PM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

Tiddly little fruits like apples count as "large fruit"? So how about something like a jackfruit?
posted by Gordafarin at 3:38 AM on May 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

Those were eaten by Giants, along with their relative the breadfruit. Stories of the enormous, yellow, ellipsoidal fruits being hoarded by them, and the handfuls of bean-like seeds that would be the only remnants of a meal eventually led to the famous fairytale.
posted by lucidium at 5:44 AM on May 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

Previously. I don't know how 2008 was 11 freakin' years ago.

I love this topic.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:56 AM on May 29, 2019

This discussion of megafauna and megafruits, so far, lacks a video where an elephant eats a watermelon the way that I would eat a raspberry or a pistachio.

Oh, no it doesn't.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 9:28 AM on May 29, 2019 [5 favorites]

Wow, elephants are way more meticulous with their watermelons than hippos are!
posted by moonmilk at 9:33 AM on May 29, 2019 [3 favorites]

These were super interesting articles. I shared them with my dad, as their pertinent to his interests, and his response was: Domestication for foodstuffs? What about domestication for alcohol? As usual I suspect he's on to something.
posted by St. Oops at 3:59 AM on May 30, 2019