The interactions between plants and animals are really extensive. Although this may seem like a simple predation, the relationship between these beings is symbiotic and both parties are not only necessary to survive, but have evolved together.
One of the interactions between animals and plants is frugivorism. In this article by Animal Expert we will talk about this relationship and discover what fruit animals are: characteristics and examples.
- Frugivorous animals are those that are based on the fruit consumption diet.
- Or much of what they consume is composed of this type of food.
- In the animal kingdom.
- Many species are frugivorous.
- From insects to large mammals.
The plants that produce fruits are angiosperms. In this group, the flowers of the female plants or the female parts of a hermaphrodite plant have an ovary with several eggs that, being fertilized by sperm, thicken and change color, acquiring nutritional qualities very interesting for animals. 20% of known mammal species are frugivorous animals, so this type of diet is very important and important in animals.
In principle, frugivorous animals do not appear to have distinctive characteristics of non-frugivorous animals, especially when they are omnivorous animals that, although they can feed on many products, have fruit as the main food.
The main characteristics appear along the digestive tract, starting with the mouth or beak. In mammals and other animals with teeth, molars are generally wider and flatred to chew. Animals whose teeth do not chew tend to have a row of equal small teeth, which are used to cut fruits and swallow smaller pieces.
Frugivorous birds usually have a short or concave beak to extract the pulp from the fruit, as is the case with parrots. Other birds have a thinner, straighter bill, which is used to feed on smaller fruits that can be swallowed whole.
Arthropods have specialized jaws for grinding food. A species can eat fruit at certain stages of life and have another diet when it becomes an adult, or it may not even need to eat more.
Another very important feature of these animals is that they do not digest the seeds, however, they produce in them a physical and chemical modification, called scarification, without which they could not germinate when outdoors.
Fruit plants and fruity animals have a symbiotic relationship and have co-evolved throughout history. The fruits of the plants are so striking and nutritious not for the seeds to feed, but to attract the attention of the animals.
Fruit-eating animals eat the fruit pulp and ingest the seeds together. With this, the plant has two advantages:
Therefore, we can say that the fruits are the reward that animals receive for spreading the seeds, just as pollen is, for a bee, the reward of pollination of different plants.
Fruit animals are scattered all over the world, in all regions where there are fruit plants. Below are some examples of fruit animals that demonstrate this diversity.
Relationships between plants and animals are generally strong, especially for species that feed exclusively on fruits, such as the flying fox (Acerodon jubatus). This animal lives in the forest where it feeds and is endangered by deforestation. In Africa, the largest species of bats is also frugivorous, the hammer bat (Hypsinathus monstrosus).
On the other hand, most primates are frugivorous. Thus, although they have an omnivorous diet, they eat mainly fruit. This is the case, for example, of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) or gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), although many lemurs are also frugivorous.
New world monkeys, such as howler monkeys, spider monkeys and ouistiti, play an important role in the seed dispersal of the fruits they eat, so they are also on the list of examples of fruit animals.
Shrews, loirs and skunks are nocturnal mammals that eat fruit, however, if they find a worm, they will not hesitate to eat it. Finally, all ungulates are herbivores, but some, like tapir, feed almost exclusively on fruits.
In birds, it is worth mentioning parrots as the biggest consumers of fruit, with a beak totally designed for it. Species of the genus Sylvia, such as blackcong, are also important frugivorous birds. Other birds, such as the austral casoar (Cassuarius casuarius), also feed on a wide variety of fruits found in the forest floor, which are essential for plant dispersal. Toucans are based on fruits with berries, although they can also eat small reptiles or mammals. Naturally, in captivity, it is important for your health to consume a certain amount of animal protein.
There are also frugivorous reptiles, such as green iguanas. They do not chew food, but cut it with their little teeth into pieces that they can swallow whole. Other lizards, such as bearded dragons or scorpions, can eat fruit, but they are omnivorous, unlike green iguanas that are herbivorous, so they also need to eat insects and even small mammals.
Terrestrial turtles are another group of frugivorous reptiles, although they can sometimes eat insects, molluscs or worms.
On the other hand, there are also frugivorous invertebrates, such as fruit fly or Drosophila melanogaster, widely used in research. This small fly lays its eggs in the fruit and, when they are born, the larvae feed on the fruit until they metamorphose and reach adulthood. In addition, many bed bugs, insects, absorb the juice from inside the fruit.
Although this may seem strange, we close the list of examples of frugivorous animals with this group, because there are also frugivorous fish, such as those belonging to the serrasalmidae family. These fish, commonly known as pac, feed on plants, but not only on their fruits, but also from other parts such as leaves and stems.