Sweet tooth: Elephants detect fruit sugar levels based on scent alone.
animal–plant interactions
chemical communication
frugivory
honest signaling
olfaction
seed dispersal
Journal
Ecology and evolution
ISSN: 2045-7758
Titre abrégé: Ecol Evol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101566408
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Oct 2020
Oct 2020
Historique:
received:
13
05
2020
revised:
07
08
2020
accepted:
18
08
2020
entrez:
4
11
2020
pubmed:
5
11
2020
medline:
5
11
2020
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The ability to assess food quality is crucial to all organisms. Fleshy fruits are a major source of nutrients to various animals, and unlike most food sources, have evolved to be attractive and to be consumed by animals to promote seed dispersal. It has recently been established that fruit scent-the bouquet of volatile chemicals emitted by ripe fruit-is an evolved communication system between plants and animals. Further, it has been argued that chemicals that are synthesized from sugar and its products may be an honest signal for sugar content and fruit quality. Elephants are important seed dispersers for numerous species and possess an olfactory system that is likely to outperform most other animals. We tested the hypothesis that fruit scent signifies sugar content and that elephants are capable of assessing fruit sugar levels based on scent alone. Using a paired-choice test of marula fruits (
Identifiants
pubmed: 33144973
doi: 10.1002/ece3.6777
pii: ECE36777
pmc: PMC7593167
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
11399-11407Informations de copyright
© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors declare no competing interests.
Références
Sci Rep. 2015 Oct 06;5:14895
pubmed: 26440380
Mol Biol Evol. 2018 Jun 1;35(6):1437-1450
pubmed: 29659972
Genome Res. 2014 Sep;24(9):1485-96
pubmed: 25053675
Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 17;7(1):5646
pubmed: 28717123
Integr Comp Biol. 2004 Aug;44(4):315-23
pubmed: 21676715
J Chem Ecol. 2007 Nov;33(11):2097-110
pubmed: 17929094
PLoS One. 2008 Mar 05;3(3):e1745
pubmed: 18320062
Anal Biochem. 1966 Jun;15(3):373-81
pubmed: 5956114
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 1998 Aug;38(6):421-64
pubmed: 9759559
Chem Senses. 2013 Feb;38(2):107-18
pubmed: 23246848
J Chem Ecol. 2016 Apr;42(4):323-8
pubmed: 27039380
Ecol Evol. 2019 Aug 22;9(18):10534-10543
pubmed: 31624565
J Chem Ecol. 2006 Jun;32(6):1289-300
pubmed: 16770719
Am Nat. 1997 Sep;150(3):346-72
pubmed: 18811294
Ecology. 2020 Feb;101(2):e02937
pubmed: 31750543
Nat Commun. 2018 Nov 16;9(1):4838
pubmed: 30446651
Biol Lett. 2020 Apr;16(4):20200070
pubmed: 32343936
Proc Biol Sci. 2014 Jan 08;281(1777):20132516
pubmed: 24403330
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jun 18;116(25):12566-12571
pubmed: 31160445
Integr Comp Biol. 2004 Aug;44(4):295-303
pubmed: 21676713
Evol Anthropol. 2015 Jul-Aug;24(4):137-48
pubmed: 26267435
Ecology. 2008 Oct;89(10):2684-91
pubmed: 18959306
Plant Physiol. 2004 Aug;135(4):1865-78
pubmed: 15326278
Sci Adv. 2018 Oct 03;4(10):eaat4871
pubmed: 30306132