Evolutionary anachronism

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Evolutionary anachronism, also known as "ecological anachronism", is a term initially referring to attributes of certain plant species that possess traits seemed best explained as having been favorably selected in the past due to their coevolution with plant-eating megafauna that are now extinct. By far the most famous of these is the avocado, which is native to the Tropical Americas, but contains pits too large for even the largest currently living native frugivore, certain tapirs, but is readily consumed by Pleistocene megafaunal analogs (elephants, rhinos) if introduced to Africa and India. The concept was formulated by Costa Rican-based American ecologist Daniel H. Janzen and carried broadly into scientific awareness when he and his coauthor, paleoecologist Paul S. Martin, published "Neotropical Anachronisms: The Fruits the Gomphotheres Ate" in the journal Science. Among the largest of extinct fruit-eating mammals in the American tropics were the gomphotheres, related to modern elephants...

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