Frugivore Adaptations For Fruit Consumption
In order for frugivores to be good seed dispersers they must digest fruits without consuming a high proportion of the seeds. Many seed-dispersing animals have specialized digestive systems to process fruits which leave seeds intact. Some bird species have shorter intestines to rapidly pass seeds from fruits, while some frugivorous bat species have longer intestines. Some seed-dispersing frugivores have short gut-retention times and others can alter intestinal enzyme composition when eating different types of fruits.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—William Gass (b. 1924)