Phylogenetic study of frugivore incidence in fruit evolution

LOMÁSCOLO, SILVIA B.; LEVEY, DOUGLAS J.; SCHAEFER, H. MARTIN; KIMBALL, REBECCA T.; BOLKER, BENJAMIN M.; ALBORN, HANS

Bariloche, Argentina

Congreso; VI Southern Connection Congress; 2010

Even though plant reproduction largely depends on seed dispersal,evolutionary ecologists have been unable to link co-occurring fruit traitswith differences in behavior and morphology of fruit-eating vertebrates. Hence, fruit diversity remains largely unexplained. Using a multivariatephylogenetic comparative test with unbiased estimates of fruit odor andcolor, we demonstrate for the first time that fruit traits evolve inconcert and as predicted by differences in the behavior and morphology oftheir frugivorous seed dispersers. Observations at fruiting treesindependently confirmed that differences in fig traits predict differencesin dispersers. Taken together, these results demonstrate that differencesamong frugivores have shaped the evolution of fruit traits. More broadly,our results underscore the importance of mutualisms in both generating andmaintaining biodiversity.