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 64 coula nuts DHJanzen100518.jpg high resolution
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Parting the greenery in image DHJanzen100517.jpg above reveals a ground ten centimeters deep in broken coula nut shells (Coula edulis - a very revealing species name - in the Olacaceae, the olive family). These nuts, collected from the forest floor in huge numbers, were broken and the seed eaten - a source of protein and fats. While this seed predation was probably of trivial direct significance to the coula nut tree population, it was of very great indirect significance through fueling the human predators that were stripping the forest of all of its vertebrate seed dispersers and seed predators. Do not confuse coula nuts with African cola nuts, which were one of the original sources of the caffeine in original Coca Cola (you can figure out what was the other stuff in Coca Cola, besides the sugar). |
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