Megafaunal Fruits and Life back in Ecuador

Megafaunal fruits, or rather fruits with a megafaunal seed dispersal syndrome, are those generally exhibiting traits such as being large, hard skinned and having either one large seed or a collection of medium sized seeds. Perhaps the most commercially common examples of this kind of fruits are avocados, mangos & guanábanas. This fruit traits are thought to have evolved as response to being attractive to megafauna so they can disperse its seeds. However, as most of this big animals have gone extinct rapidly over vast of regions around the globe, this fruit traits have become anachronic (i.e. favorably selected in the past by coevolution with now extinct species).

Easily findable at local markets, growing on fields or inside forests. In the tropics, little effort is needed to be placed front upon this "overly-sized" fruits. ECUADOR is heaven for fruit lovers, there is a long list of the many fruits and varieties one can find here. Growing up here normalized in my diet fruit intake on a daily basis. Such was my close relationship with fruits that that was the first thing I missed when I went to live abroad. Nevertheless, I'm back! and I have already take a trip to the market to get a full batch of tropical megafaunal fruits! Even more, I now enjoy more going to the "finca" to harvest myself all this deliciousness, experiencing first hand how this fruit traits were so effective to attract big animals (smell delicious next to the tree!). Although our I consider us to be unlucky not being able to observe anymore such giant beasts roaming around in the countryside. I grateful at some extent, to those massive global extinctions for leaving such massive delicious, watery and nutritive resources free of competition, being plentiful and ready for me to take.