It was researched during preparations for a major new exhibition about the Sapotaceae plant family – Nature Mother of Invention – at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.Diminutive of Dorothy. This post is by guest blogger Theodora Mouschounti, an MSc student studying Science Communication and Public Engagement at The University of Edinburgh. If we ignore these connections between plants and animals more species will face the same fate as the dodo. They are both complex and dynamic, but fragile at the same time. Interactions between animals and plants are everywhere. This type of silk is commercially important in India and is appreciated for its special qualities.Īs well as their stories these trees show us a fundamental aspect of nature. It is these cocoons that are collected from the wild and processed to produce the sought after wild silk, also called tussar silk. The larvae of this moth are silkworms and they eat the leaves of the tree before building their cocoons. The tree in question is Madhuca longifolia, and it is vital for the life cycle of the moth – Antheraea paphia. Travelling from Africa to India, there is another species of tree in the Sapotaceae family of high economic and ecological interest. This particular interaction has only recently been discovered and a short video clip of elephants feeding on Omphalocarpum fruit can be seen here.Īntheraea paphia, one of the moth species that is the source of wild silk. Declines in forest elephant populations really could put pressure on Omphalocarpum trees, and this is a good example of the often unexpected interconnections in nature. However, here the tree does seem to rely on just one animal to disperse its seeds. The close connection between Omphalocarpum trees and elephants echoes the dodo tree story. This interaction is ecologically important, as seeds pass through the elephant’s digestive system and germinate more easily. After positioning the fruit with their trunk, the elephants skewer it with a tusk and split it open. They always follow a specific path, specially carved out of the forest to the Omphalocarpum tree. When the fruit falls to the ground the sound echoes through the depths of the forest and attracts elephants. These large fruits are sought after by the forest elephants, and it is only the elephants that can break through the hard shell. In Africa’s tropical forests Omphalocarpum elatum produces fruits that can be as much as two kilos in weight. The image behind shows the trunk of a tree studded with fruit. Whole fruit of Omphalocarpum from the research collection in the Herbarium. While the small, greenish and rather malodorous flowers, are a favourite food of the speckled mousebird with its distinctive brown head crest. This southern African coastal tree has fruits, similar to blackberries, that are delicacies for bats, monkeys and bush pigs. A relative of the tambalacoque in the same genus, Sideroxylon inerme, the white milkwood tree, attracts a wide variety of animals to feed on its flowers and fruits. Although now discredited as the sole agent of dispersal, the dodo’s relationship with this tree still continues to fascinate.Īnimal interactions with other members of the Sapotaceae family include some equally fascinating stories. Further research has shown that surviving tortoises are also likely to disperse the seeds of this tree, and more tambalacoque trees have been found, including some younger individuals. However, the story has a more positive postscript. This was a compelling and plausible story, and not surprisingly captured people’s attention. ![]() Put simply, the extinction of the dodo was preventing the tambalacoque from regenerating and the tree seemed doomed to go the same way. The extinction of the dodo in the 17th century, due to hunting by people, was linked by Temple to the absence of young trees. The idea was that the abrasion in the bird’s gizzard and the stomach acids would start to breakdown the seeds surface, allowing water to penetrate and triggering germination. Temple thought that before the tough seeds would germinate they must first pass through the digestive system of the dodo. Scientist Stanley Temple came up with the theory that the tree relied upon the dodo to complete its life cycle. The true age could not be determined because, like most tropical trees, tambalacoque has no growth rings. There were supposedly only 13 specimens left, all estimated to be about 300 years old. ![]() In the 1970s there was concern that the tambalacoque tree was on the brink of extinction. Early engraving of a dodo, the famous extinct flightless bird from Mauritius.
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