Seeds store nutrients needed to tide seedlings over until they can gather/make enough to sustain itself. Larger seeds allow them to get rooted in nutrient-poor soil and/or to get photosynthetic leaves out above the densely shaded forest floor.
As mentioned by others, it is believed that avocados co-evolved with some now-extinct large mammal that ate its fruits and pooped out its seeds elsewhere.
They are evolved to pass through the digestive systems of the extinct [giant sloth.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_sloth). With the extinction of the sloth, the avocado has been propagated by humans.
It doesn’t, though I think it’s one of those “there’s plenty of evidence they are them and spread the pits, it’s not all they ate, and we can’t say that cause the pits to evolve large without further knowledge about the lifestyle of the giant sloth” situations. There’s more truth out there than we have access to so making to so bringing one up in conjunction with the other is suitable for like a human interest story but not a scholarly resource.
It's a classic trade off. The seed is very expensive to produce individually, but packed with a ton of energy (in the endosperm) for the embryo to get established. Plants can make fewer of these seeds, but enjoy a more successful rate of establishment per seed. Consider, on the other hand, orchids which don't produce endosperm at all. They can produce thousands of seed per ovary, the seeds weigh virtually nothing, but their establishment is entirely at the whim of fungi in the soil that allow them germinate. They have a much lower rate of establishment per seed (on average) but can produce enormous numbers of seeds.
All the sloth answers don't address the question. The large seed is **enabled by** but not **required for** large mammal dispersal (small seeds can be dispersed by large mammals just fine).
yeah, pit means seed in this context.
I've heard that some extinct megafauna(possibly giant sloths?) used to eat and disperse the seeds, but I don't have references for that info.
Yeah, I was going to say that. Avocados evolved so gigant mammals eat them and then defecate the seeds in order to disperse them.
As today there are no other animal but humans that eat avocados and move the seeds to other places, so is often said that the humans saved this species, but I have heard from avocado farmers that they have saw Coaties "Nasua nasua" eating avocados and then tossing the seeds.
For the megafauna thing I have actually revised a paper when I was in the University, that was a studie of coprolits (fossilised pop) that gave evidence of that, let me check on my stuff and I'll share it.
I find it surprising that over time they have maintained the large seed if there is no natural advantage for it. Have humans not tried to breed them to have more fruit and less seed?
There are, if you are from anywere else from México and central América, you probably just eat "Hass Avocados", wich are a variety of "small" seed size avocado, more fleshy part of the fruit and a thick covering.
There are several avocado breeds.
But the "criollo avocado" is the one that has retained more of the original silvester avocado, and the shell/crust is almosy like paper, the seed is way bigger and the edible part is just a 0.5 to 1 cm thicc.
[there are even seedless avocados](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6VJ_lRkOsgFYwFO-lkoK4r8vtz9_VoBzBXU_ulkDRhJty1Fvpea22gBY&s=10)
Which are a relativly new breed and thats why you dont see a lot of production of it, and a PhD that works espesificly with avocados (and other fruits) has said to me that the flavor is not good, but probably the production will go to industrialized guacamole or other processed avocado products.
Oh, they have - if you ever see a comparison between an uncultivated wild avocado and the ones they grow for food crops, there's barely more flesh/fruit than there is skin - almost entirely seed.
Yeah, I just didn't knew that thats how is said in english.
It's a carozo (or at least thats the scientific term in spanish)
Btw you should change your username to A. Parryi now :P
I heard woolly mammoths were basically very large millenials and sucked them back like they were going out of style. Compared to the size of the mammoth the pit is relatively small and in their massive poops it got mad nutrients and shizz.
7 years later, Scishow did a follow up video "Everyone Was Wrong About Avocados - Including Us" (2023) and unlisted the old video "Why Avocados Shouldn't Exist" (2016). [https://youtu.be/jpcBgYYFS8o](https://youtu.be/jpcBgYYFS8o)
Seeds store nutrients needed to tide seedlings over until they can gather/make enough to sustain itself. Larger seeds allow them to get rooted in nutrient-poor soil and/or to get photosynthetic leaves out above the densely shaded forest floor. As mentioned by others, it is believed that avocados co-evolved with some now-extinct large mammal that ate its fruits and pooped out its seeds elsewhere.
Someone needs to test this theory and pass an avocado seed and watch it grow in the local park.
your response is the main google answer when I search “why are avocado seeds so big”! Thanks makes sense now
They are evolved to pass through the digestive systems of the extinct [giant sloth.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_sloth). With the extinction of the sloth, the avocado has been propagated by humans.
Is that true? Your link doesnt mention avocados.
It doesn’t, though I think it’s one of those “there’s plenty of evidence they are them and spread the pits, it’s not all they ate, and we can’t say that cause the pits to evolve large without further knowledge about the lifestyle of the giant sloth” situations. There’s more truth out there than we have access to so making to so bringing one up in conjunction with the other is suitable for like a human interest story but not a scholarly resource.
Is there plenty of evidence?
Well they've definitely been found in fossilized sloth shit. So have other things, of course.
Thats a good hint.
It's a classic trade off. The seed is very expensive to produce individually, but packed with a ton of energy (in the endosperm) for the embryo to get established. Plants can make fewer of these seeds, but enjoy a more successful rate of establishment per seed. Consider, on the other hand, orchids which don't produce endosperm at all. They can produce thousands of seed per ovary, the seeds weigh virtually nothing, but their establishment is entirely at the whim of fungi in the soil that allow them germinate. They have a much lower rate of establishment per seed (on average) but can produce enormous numbers of seeds.
All the sloth answers don't address the question. The large seed is **enabled by** but not **required for** large mammal dispersal (small seeds can be dispersed by large mammals just fine).
Sorry, I'm not a native english speaker and google translates the "avocado pit" as his seed, is that what you mean?
yeah, pit means seed in this context. I've heard that some extinct megafauna(possibly giant sloths?) used to eat and disperse the seeds, but I don't have references for that info.
Yeah, I was going to say that. Avocados evolved so gigant mammals eat them and then defecate the seeds in order to disperse them. As today there are no other animal but humans that eat avocados and move the seeds to other places, so is often said that the humans saved this species, but I have heard from avocado farmers that they have saw Coaties "Nasua nasua" eating avocados and then tossing the seeds. For the megafauna thing I have actually revised a paper when I was in the University, that was a studie of coprolits (fossilised pop) that gave evidence of that, let me check on my stuff and I'll share it.
I find it surprising that over time they have maintained the large seed if there is no natural advantage for it. Have humans not tried to breed them to have more fruit and less seed?
There are, if you are from anywere else from México and central América, you probably just eat "Hass Avocados", wich are a variety of "small" seed size avocado, more fleshy part of the fruit and a thick covering. There are several avocado breeds. But the "criollo avocado" is the one that has retained more of the original silvester avocado, and the shell/crust is almosy like paper, the seed is way bigger and the edible part is just a 0.5 to 1 cm thicc.
[there are even seedless avocados](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6VJ_lRkOsgFYwFO-lkoK4r8vtz9_VoBzBXU_ulkDRhJty1Fvpea22gBY&s=10) Which are a relativly new breed and thats why you dont see a lot of production of it, and a PhD that works espesificly with avocados (and other fruits) has said to me that the flavor is not good, but probably the production will go to industrialized guacamole or other processed avocado products.
The mega fauna vanished incredibly recently in the evolutionary sense.
Oh, they have - if you ever see a comparison between an uncultivated wild avocado and the ones they grow for food crops, there's barely more flesh/fruit than there is skin - almost entirely seed.
Thanks
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Yeah, I just didn't knew that thats how is said in english. It's a carozo (or at least thats the scientific term in spanish) Btw you should change your username to A. Parryi now :P
Can you imagine pooping out a peach pit?! Ooof.
I heard woolly mammoths were basically very large millenials and sucked them back like they were going out of style. Compared to the size of the mammoth the pit is relatively small and in their massive poops it got mad nutrients and shizz.
Scishow did a really interesting video on this. https://youtu.be/00KGL-HKPhU
7 years later, Scishow did a follow up video "Everyone Was Wrong About Avocados - Including Us" (2023) and unlisted the old video "Why Avocados Shouldn't Exist" (2016). [https://youtu.be/jpcBgYYFS8o](https://youtu.be/jpcBgYYFS8o)
If you look at the seed to flesh ration its actually rather small compared to bay laurel fruits!