The disappearance of mastodons still threatens the native forests of South America - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - UAB Barcelona
Reconstruction of the paleoenvironments in which Chilean mastodons lived, from the semi-arid north to the cold rainforests of Patagonia.
Credit: Mauricio Álvarez
For creationists who claim that life existed in its present form from the very beginning, this revelation is deeply unsettling. The discovery undermines the belief that forest ecosystems were always fully functional without the need for extinct megafauna—those massive mammals were not mere background actors but ecological engineers whose disappearance left communities of fruit‑bearing plants stranded, fragmented, and genetically impoverished.
Most strikingly, nearly 40 % of plant species once reliant on these now‑vanished seed spreaders are currently classified as threatened—up to four times the rate seen in regions still served by extant dispersers like tapirs or monkeys [2]. For creationists, this means that the natural world was far more dynamic—and far more dependent on evolutionary processes over deep time—than their models allow. If entire forests trebled on species interactions across thousands of years, then the simplistic view that everything was created perfectly, all at once, is seriously called into question.
A new study led by the University of O’Higgins, Chile, with key contributions from Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (IPHES-CERCA), demonstrates for the first time—based on direct fossil evidence—that these extinct elephant relatives regularly consumed fruit and were essential allies of many tree species. The researchers have just published their findings in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
What information do you have on mastodons, their evolution and extinction? Mastodons were a group of extinct, elephant-like mammals belonging to the family Mammutidae, distinct from both modern elephants and mammoths. Here's a detailed overview of their evolution, ecology, and extinction:They have also explained their findings in aN Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) news item:
- Evolution of Mastodons
- Genus: Mammut, with the most well-known species being Mammut americanum (the American mastodon).
- Origins: Mastodons evolved in Africa around 27–30 million years ago, during the late Oligocene, and spread into Eurasia and North America.
- By the late Miocene, they had reached North America via the Bering Land Bridge.
- Unlike mammoths (family Elephantidae), mastodons retained more primitive dental features-especially cone-shaped cusps suited for browsing (eating leaves, twigs, and shrubs).
- Anatomy and Ecology
- Mastodons were slightly shorter and stockier than mammoths, with a heavily muscled build and long, curved tusks.
- Their molars had low ridges and were well-adapted for crushing coarse vegetation, suggesting a forest-based lifestyle, feeding largely on shrubs and trees.
- They thrived in woodland and forested environments throughout North and South America.
- Mastodons in South America
- The South American species, Notiomastodon platensis, was part of the Great American Biotic Interchange that occurred when the Isthmus of Panama formed (\~3 million years ago), allowing animals to migrate between the continents.
- Unlike their North American cousins, these mastodons adapted to more varied environments, including savannas and open woodlands.
- The recent discovery of frugivory (fruit-eating) in Notiomastodon challenges previous assumptions, showing that they helped disperse seeds of large-fruited trees, playing an essential ecological role similar to that of modern megafaunal seed dispersers.
- Extinction
- Mastodons went extinct roughly 10,000–11,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.
- This extinction coincided with two major events:
- Climate Change: The end of the last Ice Age brought warmer temperatures and changing vegetation patterns.
- Human Hunting: The arrival of Palaeo-Indians in the Americas likely intensified pressure on mastodon populations. Many archaeologists point to kill sites, such as those at the Manis site (Washington, USA), as evidence that humans actively hunted mastodons.
- The extinction was likely due to a combination of factors, including habitat loss, climatic stress, and overhunting—what's known as the "overkill hypothesis".
- Significance for Evolutionary Biology
- Mastodons are an excellent example of parallel evolution: they independently evolved many traits similar to elephants, despite being only distantly related.
- Their extinction is also part of a broader Pleistocene megafaunal collapse that saw the disappearance of many large mammals, altering ecosystems permanently.
- Recent studies, including the Notiomastodon dental wear research, reinforce the idea that extinctions can have long-term ecological effects-challenging creationist claims of “design” and ecological stasis.
The disappearance of mastodons still threatens the native forests of South AmericaSadly, the main body of the paper is behind a paywall, but the abstract is freely available:
A study with the involvement of the UAB, IPHES-CERCA and URV, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, provides for the first time direct fossil evidence of frugivory in South American mastodons and shows the lasting ecological impact of their extinction.
Ten thousand years ago, mastodons vanished from South America. With them, an ecologically vital function also disappeared: the dispersal of seeds from large-fruited plants. A new study led by the University of O’Higgins, Chile, with key contributions from IPHES-CERCA, demonstrates for the first time—based on direct fossil evidence—that these extinct elephant relatives regularly consumed fruit and were essential allies of many tree species. Their loss was not only zoological; it was also botanical, ecological, and evolutionary. Some plant species that relied on mastodons for seed dispersal are now critically endangered.
Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, the research presents the first solid evidence of frugivory in Notiomastodon platensis, a South American Pleistocene mastodon. The findings are based on a multiproxy analysis of 96 fossil teeth collected over a span of more than 1,500 kilometers, from Los Vilos to Chiloé Island in southern Chile. Nearly half of the specimens come from the emblematic site of Lake Tagua Tagua, an ancient lake basin rich in Pleistocene fauna, located in the present-day O’Higgins Region.
The study was led by Erwin González-Guarda, researcher at the University of O’Higgins and associate at IPHES-CERCA, alongside an international team that includes IPHES-CERCA researchers Florent Rivals, a paleodiet specialist; Carlos Tornero and Iván Ramírez-Pedraza, experts in stable isotopes and paleoenvironmental reconstruction; and Alia Petermann-Pichincura. The study was carried out in collaboration with the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), where Carlos Tornero is professor in the Department of Prehistory.
An ecological hypothesis finally proven
In 1982, biologist Daniel Janzen and paleontologist Paul Martin proposed a revolutionary idea: many tropical plants developed large, sweet, and colorful fruits to attract large animals—such as mastodons, native horses, or giant ground sloths—that would serve as seed dispersers. Known as the “neotropical anachronisms hypothesis,” this theory remained unconfirmed for over forty years. Now, the study led by González-Guarda provides direct fossil evidence that validates it.
To understand the lifestyle of this mastodon, the team employed various techniques: isotopic analysis, microscopic dental wear studies, and fossil calculus analysis.
We found starch residues and plant tissues typical of fleshy fruits, such as those of the Chilean palm (Jubaea chilensis). This directly confirms that these animals frequently consumed fruit and played a role in forest regeneration.
Professor Florent Rivals, co-author Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social
Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (IPHES-CERCA)
Tarragona, Spain.
The forgotten role of large seed dispersers
Through stable isotope analysis, we were able to reconstruct the animals’ environment and diet with great precision.
Iván Ramírez-Pedraza, co-author
Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social
Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (IPHES-CERCA)
Tarragona, Spain.
The data point to a forested ecosystem rich in fruit resources, where mastodons traveled long distances and dispersed seeds along the way. That ecological function remains unreplaced.Dental chemistry gives us a direct window into the past. By combining different lines of evidence, we’ve been able to robustly confirm their frugivory and the key role they played in these ecosystems.
Carlos Tornero, co-author.
Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social
Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (IPHES-CERCA)
Tarragona, Spain.
A future threatened by an incomplete past
The extinction of mastodons broke a co-evolutionary alliance that had lasted for millennia. The researchers applied a machine learning model to compare the current conservation status of megafauna-dependent plants across different South American regions. The results are alarming: in central Chile, 40% of these species are now threatened—a rate four times higher than in tropical regions where animals such as tapirs or monkeys still act as alternative seed dispersers.
Where that ecological relationship between plants and animals has been entirely severed, the consequences remain visible even thousands of years later.
Andrea P. Loayza, co-author.
Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB)
Santiago, Chile.
Species like the gomortega (Gomortega keule), the Chilean palm, and the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) now survive in small, fragmented populations with low genetic diversity. They are living remnants of an extinct interaction.
Paleontology as a key to conservation
Beyond its fossil discoveries, the study sends a clear message: understanding the past is essential to addressing today’s ecological crises.
Paleontology isn’t just about telling old stories. It helps us recognize what we’ve lost—and what we still have a chance to save.
Professor Florent Rivals.
Publication:
Abstract Most megaherbivores in the Americas went extinct around 10,000 years ago, presumably disrupting the long-distance seed dispersal of large, fleshy-fruited plant species. The neotropical anachronism hypothesis, proposed by Janzen and Martin, suggests that large fruits evolved in response to past selective pressures from now-extinct megafauna. While this explains many key adaptations of ‘megafaunal fruit’ plants, it lacks robust palaeoecological evidence. Here we use a multiproxy approach that provides evidence of frugivory by the extinct South American proboscidean Notiomastodon platensis. Using a machine learning model that reveals the extinction effects of these megafaunal dispersers in modern ecosystems, we show how losing seed dispersal interactions increased the extinction risk of megafaunal fruit plants in regions across South America lacking smaller surrogate dispersers. Our results imply that current ecosystems may undergo further functional changes under continuing anthropogenic pressures.
González-Guarda, E. et al.
Robust fossil evidence for proboscidean frugivory and its lasting impact on South American ecosystems.
Nature, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02713-8
© 2025 Springer Nature Ltd.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This discovery that South American mastodons, specifically Notiomastodon platensis, were frugivores — animals that consumed and dispersed large fruits — poses a major problem for creationist models of Earth history. According to the research, these extinct megafauna played a vital role in maintaining the genetic diversity and distribution of tropical forests by dispersing the seeds of trees that depended on large-bodied animals. Their extinction, around 10,000 years ago, led to a decline in the genetic health and range of many of these tree species—consequences still measurable in the present-day ecosystems of South America.
For creationists, especially young-Earth creationists who assert that all species were created within a few days around 6,000 years ago, this poses an immediate timeline conflict. The ecological impact of the mastodons’ extinction is demonstrably ancient, yet still observable. This means that large-scale evolutionary and ecological processes—such as megafaunal seed dispersal, population fragmentation, and reduced genetic diversity—have been operating over timescales far longer than a literalist interpretation of the Bible permits.
Moreover, this finding underscores the evolutionary interdependence of species: trees evolved fruit traits adapted to being eaten by animals that are now extinct. These are not static, one-off acts of “special creation,” but dynamic evolutionary relationships that shifted over millions of years. Once those dispersers vanished, the trees did not simply adapt overnight or get replaced; they suffered decline. This runs counter to the creationist notion that ecosystems were perfectly and immutably designed. Instead, it supports the evolutionary view of nature as a system of trial, adaptation, extinction, and legacy effects stretching deep into geological time.
In short, the mastodon’s dietary habits, revealed through careful fossil analysis, do more than fill in a gap in palaeoecology — they expose the deep inconsistencies in creationist thinking. Ecosystems aren’t static or recently manufactured; they are the long-evolved products of ancient interactions — some of which we are only beginning to understand, even as their consequences continue to shape the living world.
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