2013-08-22

Crocodile confession: Meat-eating predators eat fruit

Crocodile confession: Meat-eating predators eat fruit

Aug. 21, 2013 — It turns out that alligators do not live on meat alone. Neither do Nile crocodiles. A new study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society says that the American alligator and a dozen other crocodile species enjoy an occasional taste of fruit along with their normal meat-heavy diets of mammals, birds, and fish.


Share This:





The study gives new insight into the possible role that crocodilians, some of which have large territories, may play in forest regeneration through digesting and passing seeds from fruits.

The study appears in the July issue of the Journal of Zoology. Authors include: Steven Platt of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Ruth M. Elsey of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; Hong Liu of Florida International University and the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden; Thomas R. Rainwater of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; James C. Nifong of the University of Florida; Adam E. Rosenblatt and Michael R. Heithaus of Florida International University; and Frank J. Mazzotti of University of Florida.

The authors looked at 18 species of crocodilian ranging from the American alligator to the fearsome Nile crocodile and found 13 of the species consumed some form of fruit including a variety of berries, legumes, nuts, and grains.

While the authors say some of the fruit ingestion may have been incidental to prey capture, evidence shows that other fruit is consumed deliberately and in large quantities. Much remains to be learned about how crocodilians process carbohydrates and other plant-based nutrients, though studies suggests that fruit eating is likely to yield nutritional rewards for crocodilians.

"Although underreported, fruit eating appears widespread among crocodilians," said the study's lead author, Steven Platt of the Wildlife Conservation Society. "Given the biomass of crocodiles in many subtropical and tropical wetlands and their capacity for ingesting large numbers of fruits, we consider it likely that crocodilians function as significant seed dispersal agents in many freshwater ecosystems."



Welcome to SUV System Ltd!

SUV System Ltd is ISO 90012008 Certified electronics distributor with 10 years of experiences.

We have built up long term business relationship with about many companies which are stockers and authorized agents. we have a steady and reliable supply to meet customer's demands to the greatest extent .Confidently, we are able to lower your cost and support your business with our years of professional service.

SUV System Ltd is Electronic Components Distributor Supplies,Find Quality Electronic Components Supplies Products IC(Integrated Circuits),Connectors,Capacitor,Resistors,Diodes,Transistors,LED at Suvsystem.com. Sourcing Other Energy, Environment, Excess Inventory Products from Manufacturers and Suppliers at Suvsystem.com

Electronic Components distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com

Connectors Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Connectors-1.html

IC Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/IC(Integrated-Circuits)-1.html

LED Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/LED-1.html

Capacitor Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Capacitor-1.html

Transistor Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Transistors-1.html

Resistor Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Resistors-1.html

Diode Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Diodes-1.html

SUV System Ltd insists on the managing faith ofsincereness,speciality,foresight, win-win,so we build up stable-relationship customers located all over the world, including the States, Europe, Argentina, UAE, Malaysia, Australia,and India etc

we are focus on the following fields,and hope we can help you.


ON Transistors NEC Transistors AVX Resistors Kingbrigt LED LED part Diodes Digital Transistors BB IC Ligitek LED Connectors VISHAY IC TDK IC HARRIS IC PANASONIC Resistors Low Ohmic Resistors Chip Ferrite Beads Fairchild Semiconductor Transistors INTERSIL IC Microchip IC ON Diodes Switching Diodes LITTELFUSE Diodes Transistors Freescale Freescale Semiconductor Infineon Technologies Transistors LINEAR IC About US MURATA IC NXP Diodes chip Filter saws Civil IC ALTERA IC SANYO IC Texas Instruments(TI) IC Rectifier Diodes IC(Integrated Circuits) Renesas parts IC IR Diodes TOSHIBA Diodes Military IC
http://www.suvsystem.com/a/5135.aspx

No comments:

Post a Comment