12 December 2018 3 7K Report

The 70 or so species of wild bananas in the genus Musa have small, banana-shaped fruits of various colors, full of hard black seeds. Although small compared with cultivated bananas, the ones I have seen have been 5-10 cm long, with a thick peel. In Xishuangbanna, SW China, the seeds are dispersed largely by 50-gram fruit bats, which carry them off to a feeding roost < 200 m away for processing and only swallow the pulp (Meng et al. 2012 Integrative Zoology 2012; 7: 30–40). Birds also peck out bits from ripe fruits. The Australian species are reportedly eaten by feral pigs. Does anyone know what disperses other species?

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