Eddie Gonzales Jr.<\/strong> – AncientPages.com – <\/strong>A new study provides for the first time direct fossil evidence of frugivory in South American mastodons and shows the lasting ecological impact of their extinction.<\/p>\n The extinct proboscidean species Notiomastodon platensis is observed feeding on Chilean palm fruit in La Campana National Park. Credit: Mauricio \u00c1lvare<\/em><\/p>\n Ten thousand years ago, mastodons vanished from South America. With them, an ecologically vital function also disappeared: the dispersal of seeds from large-fruited plants.<\/p>\n A new study led by the University of O\u2019Higgins, Chile, with key contributions from IPHES-CERCA, demonstrates for the first time\u2014based on direct fossil evidence\u2014that these extinct elephant relatives regularly consumed fruit and were essential allies of many tree species. Their loss was not only zoological; it was also botanical, ecological, and evolutionary. Some plant species that relied on mastodons for seed dispersal are now critically endangered.<\/p>\n Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, the research presents the first solid evidence of frugivory in Notiomastodon platensis, a South American Pleistocene mastodon. The findings are based on a multiproxy analysis of 96 fossil teeth collected over a span of more than 1,500 kilometers, from Los Vilos to Chilo\u00e9 Island in southern Chile. Nearly half of the specimens come from the emblematic site of Lake Tagua Tagua, an ancient lake basin rich in Pleistocene fauna, located in the present-day O\u2019Higgins Region.<\/p>\n In 1982, biologist Daniel Janzen and paleontologist Paul Martin proposed a revolutionary idea: many tropical plants developed large, sweet, and colorful fruits to attract large animals\u2014such as mastodons, native horses, or giant ground sloths\u2014that would serve as seed dispersers. Known as the \u201cneotropical anachronisms hypothesis,\u201d this theory remained unconfirmed for over forty years. Now, the study led by Gonz\u00e1lez-Guarda provides direct fossil evidence that validates it.<\/p>\n To understand the lifestyle of this mastodon, the team employed various techniques: isotopic analysis, microscopic dental wear studies, and fossil calculus analysis.<\/p>\n \u201cWe found starch residues and plant tissues typical of fleshy fruits, such as those of the Chilean palm (Jubaea chilensis),\u201d explains Florent Rivals, ICREA research professor at IPHES-CERCA and an expert in paleodiet. \u201cThis directly confirms that these animals frequently consumed fruit and played a role in forest regeneration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThrough stable isotope analysis, we were able to reconstruct the animals\u2019 environment and diet with great precision,\u201d notes Iv\u00e1n Ram\u00edrez-Pedraza. The data point to a forested ecosystem rich in fruit resources, where mastodons traveled long distances and dispersed seeds along the way. That ecological function remains unreplaced.<\/p>\n \u201cDental chemistry gives us a direct window into the past,\u201d says Carlos Tornero. \u201cBy combining different lines of evidence, we\u2019ve been able to robustly confirm their frugivory and the key role they played in these ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n The extinction of mastodons broke a co-evolutionary alliance that had lasted for millennia. The researchers applied a machine learning model to compare the current conservation status of megafauna-dependent plants across different South American regions. The results are alarming: in central Chile, 40% of these species are now threatened\u2014a rate four times higher than in tropical regions where animals such as tapirs or monkeys still act as alternative seed dispersers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere that ecological relationship between plants and animals has been entirely severed, the consequences remain visible even thousands of years later,\u201d says study co-author Andrea P. Loayza.<\/p>\n Species like the gomortega (Gomortega keule), the Chilean palm, and the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) now survive in small, fragmented populations with low genetic diversity. They are living remnants of an extinct interaction.<\/p>\n Beyond its fossil discoveries, the study sends a clear message: understanding the past is essential to addressing today\u2019s ecological crises. \u201cPaleontology isn\u2019t just about telling old stories,\u201d concludes Florent Rivals. \u201cIt helps us recognize what we\u2019ve lost\u2014and what we still have a chance to save.\u201d<\/p>\n The study, led by Erwin Gonz\u00e1lez-Guarda from the University of O\u2019Higgins and IPHES-CERCA, involved an international team including IPHES-CERCA’s Florent Rivals, Carlos Tornero, Iv\u00e1n Ram\u00edrez-Pedraza, and Alia Petermann-Pichincura. It was conducted in collaboration with Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona (UAB), where Carlos Tornero teaches Prehistory.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Disappearance](\"https:\/\/www.ancientpages.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mastodontancpagesjune17.jpg\")
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