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Frugivorous animals create mutually beneficial interactions with trees and plants in their natural habitats. These interactions are influenced by a great dynamic of the community, contributing to continue generating and maintaining biodiversity on planet Earth. Birds, mammals, reptiles and other animal groups feed on a great diversity of fruits and seeds on a daily basis, thus favoring the dispersal of said seeds and, therefore, the maintenance of forests and other plant ecosystems in which they coexist. Thus, it is an interaction of vital importance, like each one of the different trophic relationships that are established in nature.
Continue reading this article by Ecologist Verde to know in detail the frugivorous animals, their characteristics and a list of examples.
Frugivorous animals: characteristics
The frugivorous animals are characterized by following a vegetarian diet based on fruit consumption. Sometimes exclusively, sometimes combined with other types of food (herbivorous or omnivorous).
Each and every one of the frugivorous animals, as fruit consumers, performs a series of functions of great importance within the balance of the habitats and ecosystems in which they live. In this way, relationships are established between plants and this type of animals in which, both vertebrates and invertebrates, cover their nutritional needs based on fresh fruits, nuts, berries, legumes, cereals, etc. and plants, for their part, benefit from the seed dispersal what sayings fruit-eating animals performed.
A great diversity of frugivorous animals, grouped as consumers with positive or negative effects, play a fundamental role in the ecological and evolutionary balance of the plant populations from which they obtain their food. Let's see in more detail in the next sections which are the main groups of frugivorous animals and some examples of the most outstanding species.
Examples of frugivorous animals that are mammals
Did you know that 1 in 4 mammals bases their diet mainly on the consumption of fruits? The animal kingdom or Animalia never ceases to amaze us, and represents the largest group of frugivorous animals. Due to the abundance of fruit trees and shrubs in many areas of the planet (mainly in tropical regions), many mammals have chosen to meet their food needs with these delicacies loaded with vitamins and other benefits, including dispersal of the seeds that are inside the ingested fruits. In this way, primates, tapirs, rodents and other mammals have teeth and jaws adapted to chewing the fruits, as well as other adaptations in their extremities (arms, legs and tails) to obtain a greater quantity of fruits and open them if necessary.
Some examples of species and groups of frugivorous mammals most representative are:
- Hammerhead bat (Hypsinathus monstrosus)
- Bornean orangutan (I put pygmaeus)
- ChimpanzeesPan troglodytes)
- Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla)
- Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)
- Field rabbits (Oryctolagus cunniculus)
- Squirrels (family Sciuridae)
- Lemurs (Lemuroidea family)
- Amazon tapir (Tapirus terrestris)
- Flying fox (Acerodon jubatus)
- Opossum (order Didelphimorphia)
- Shrews (family Soricidae)
List of frugivorous animals - reptile examples
Another group in which there are frugivorous animals is that of reptiles. In fact, many reptiles have a varied omnivorous feeding, within which they include the consumption of fruits, such as berries and fleshy fruits, which they ingest both in their natural habitats and in captivity, if they are living in reserves, zoos or even as pets.
The following reptiles are frugivores, although some include other types of foods in their diet:
- Green iguanas (Iguana iguana)
- Land turtles (family Testudinidae)
- Bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps)
- Lawson's Dragon (Pogona henrylawsoni)
- Eastern bearded dragon (Pogona barbata)
Examples of birds that are frugivorous
Beyond toucans (family Ramphastidae) and parrots (Psittacidae), a great biodiversity of frugivorous birds abounds in forests and parks in every corner of the planet. Mainly characterized by the presence of a strong beak that allows them to open the fruits and consume the pulp and / or seeds, birds that eat fruits are fully adapted to a varied frugivorous diet, from berries to nuts. Some of the best known examples of frugivorous birds are:
- Common fathead (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)
- Tit (Parus major)
- Royal finch (Fringilla montifringilla)
- Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans)
- Atlas flycatcher (Ficedula speculigera)
- Common wattle (genus Hippolais)
- European robin (Erithacus rubecula)
- Royal redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
- Common blackbird (Turdus merula)
- European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
List of frugivorous animals - examples of invertebrates
Another group that has fruit-eating animals is that of invertebrates. However, among the frugivorous invertebratesFew species and groups choose this type of diet, since most are predators of other animals or plants, but without their own consumption of the fruits. However, the famous fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and aphids are some of the invertebrates that do opt for a frugivorous diet. Within the aphids, various species have created a parasitic relationship with plants and trees from which they consume their stems, leaves and fruits. They stand out from them:
- Oleander aphid (Aphis nerii)
- Oak and holm oak aphids (Lachnus roboris)
- Rose aphid (Macrosiphum rosae)
- Cereal aphids (Schizaphis graminum)
- Green-winged lacewing larvae (family Chrysopidae)
Fish that are frugivores
Are there also frugivorous fish? The answer is yes, without a doubt, this type of diet has also reached throughout the evolution of species to aquatic ecosystems and some groups of fish. Although they are not strict frugivores, these fish combine the consumption of fruits with that of microcrustaceans, algae and larvae. Some examples of frugivorous fish are:
- White pacu or vegetarian piranha (Piaractus brachypomus)
- Black cachama (Colossoma macropomum)
- Silver dollar (Metynnis argenteus)
- Trilobatu tometess
- Utiaritichthys longidorsalis
Learn more about these animals in this other article on Classifying Fish.
If you want to read more articles similar to Frugivorous animals: characteristics and list of examples, we recommend that you enter our Wild Animals category.
Bibliography- Fedriani, J. M. & Suárez-Esteban, A. (2015) Fruits, seeds and frugivorous mammals: functional diversity of little-studied interactions. Ecosystems- Scientific Journal of Ecology and Environment. Volume 24 (3), pp: 1-4.
- Maglianesi, M. A. & Jones, G. (2016) Effects of climate change on plant-animal interactions and its consequences on ecosystems. Biocenosis Magazine, volume 1-2, pp: 70-79.
- Herrera, C. M. (2004) Ecology of Iberian frugivorous birds. Ornithology Today Magazine, Complutense University of Madrid, pp: 127-153.
- Rubiano, A. & Arturo, A. (2011) Seed dispersal by frugivorous birds: a review of studies from the neotropical region.
