Question

Toucans can eat fruits with large seeds because their large bills can open wide. Most other birds in the same forest can only eat small seeds. Ecologist Mauro Galetti and his colleagues measured the seed sizes of palms in forest fragments with and without toucans. The graphs show two of the forest populations they studied.

Answer 1

Galetti and his colleagues found that the seed sizes of palms in forest fragments with toucans were larger than those in forests without toucans, suggesting that toucans may be selecting for palms with larger seeds. This is likely because toucans can open wide to accommodate larger seeds and so these seeds are more available to them in the environment. Furthermore, the presence of toucans in these forest fragments may also be preventing smaller-seeded palms from competing successfully, allowing them to persist in the environment.

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