Lord, J.M.; Markey, A.; Marshall, J. 2002. Have frugivores influenced the evolution of fruit traits in New Zealand? In D. Levey, WR Silva and M Galetti (eds.) Seed dispersal and Frugivory: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, U.K.
The chapter summarises information on fruit size and colour in NZ then looks at the influence of three frugivore guilds (non-volant birds, volant birds, reptiles) on fruit evolution. Flightless birds, including moa, ate fruit, but there is no evidence of fruit "adapted" to dispersal by these species. The smaller size of NZ fruit reflects the smaller sizes of volant frugivorous birds (c.f. Australia), indicating that fruit evolution in NZ has been influenced by the characteristics of this guild. Frugivory by reptiles may have played a part in the evolution of pale fruit colours in small leaved shrubs.
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