|
|
 71 seed disperser? DHJanzen100835.jpg high resolution
|
|
| However, if we wash down the entire half bushel of peccary dung, these are the only surviving seeds. There are about 100 of them, entirely of three species - Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Pithecellobium saman, Bursera simaruba - and all with extremely hard seeds. Furthermore, as the dung is washed it becomes apparently that it is made up largely of fragments of seed coats of these three species. Yes, the collared peccary does disperse some seeds, but it is hugely a seed predator for these species. Whether the tree views the collared peccary as a valued mutualist or a seed predator depends on who else would have dispersed these seeds if the peccary had not picked them up, and where the peccary disperses them (what kind of seed shadow does it make). But what of the intact seeds - how did they escape the peccary molar mill? The smaller seeds - Bursera simarouba and Pithecellobium saman - may escape via sloppy or hurried chewing, but the larger ones - Enterolobium cyclocarpum, of which there were millions of seed coat fragments - seem to be swallowed primarily when peccaries fight with each other over an individual fruit. A very quick way to resolve that argument is to swallow a large piece of the fruit whole, thereby removing it from the scene of the discussion. | ||
back to lecture slides
or skip to: