David Hershey wrote:
>Does anyone know the scientific name or a good reference on the Calvaria
>tree from the Isle of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean?
>>The text, Biology: Life on Earth, by Audesirk and Audesirk mentioned that
>it is endangered because its hard seed coats had to be worn away by the
>dodo bird gizzard before they would germinate. Of course, the dodo was
>made extinct about 1681 so only 300-plus year old Calvaria trees exist in
>nature.
The original article that discussed the mutualistic relationship between
Calvaria major and the dodo is:
Temple, S.A. 1977. Plant-animal mutualism: Coevolution with dodo leads to
near extinction of plant. Science 197:885-886.
However, Witmer, M.C. 1991 in Oikos 61:133-137, argues against obligate
mutualism by providing evidence for seeds that germinate without the
abrasion in bird guts, and for Calvaria trees less than 300 years old.
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Michael A. O'Donnell *
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