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The Despair of the Avocado
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Avocados are what is known as a "evolutionary anachronism", meaning that they basically should no longer exist. They evolved specifically to coexist with the megafauna in South America, particularly the Giant Sloths (although this view is apparently now controversial, or possibly a straight up myth). No animals today are large enough to be able to swallow their seeds whole, and distribute them. The Giant Sloths went extinct right as humans settled into South America, most likely due to human influence, so the avocado should have gone extinct too, in a way. But of course the very humans that killed off the sloths ended up cultivating the avocados.
Avocados are what is known as a "evolutionary anachronism", meaning that they basically should no longer exist. They evolved specifically to coexist with the megafauna in South America, particularly the Giant Sloths (although this view is apparently now controversial, or possibly a straight up myth). No animals today are large enough to be able to swallow their seeds whole, and distribute them. The Giant Sloths went extinct right as humans settled into South America, most likely due to human influence, so the avocado should have gone extinct too, in a way. But of course the very humans that killed off the sloths ended up cultivating the avocados.
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