Robust fossil evidence for Proboscidean frugivory and its lasting impact on South American ecosystems

Robust fossil evidence for Proboscidean frugivory and its lasting impact on South American ecosystems | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article Robust fossil evidence for Proboscidean frugivory and its lasting impact on South American ecosystems Erwin González, Andrea Loayza, Ricardo Segovia, Florent Rivals, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4009197/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Jun, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Ecology & Evolution → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Most megaherbivores in the Americas went extinct around 10,000 years ago, presumably disrupting the long-distance seed dispersal of large, fleshy-fruited plant species1. The neotropical anachronism hypothesis of Janzen and Martin2 is often used to explain many key adaptations of these "megafaunal fruit" plants, yet it lacks robust paleoecological evidence. Here, we use a multiproxy approach that provides unequivocal evidence of widespread frugivory by the extinct South American proboscidean Notiomastodon platensis. Using a model that reveals the extinction effects of these megafaunal dispersers in modern ecosystems, we show how losing these interactions has increased the extinction risk of megafaunal fruit plants in regions across South America lacking smaller surrogate dispersers. We further discuss the extent of functional changes that current ecosystems may undergo with continuing anthropogenic pressures. Biological sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformationData.xlsx Supplementary Information SupplementaryInformation.pdf Supplementary Information Supplementaryvideo.mp4 Supplementary video Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Jun, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Ecology & Evolution → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4009197","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":280790401,"identity":"57b019a3-e499-4234-9078-b98f45641cb5","order_by":0,"name":"Erwin 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