National Geographic: Panama Wild - Rain Forest of Life Page #2

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BCI has a long dry season.

Food is now becoming scarce.

Even coatis,

who will eat just about anything

are hard pressed to

fill their bellies.

They gather under the majestic

dipteryx, waiting.

Now, when they need it most,

the tree will bear its fruit.

For dipteryx this is the beginning

of the long struggle to reproduce.

Howler monkeys gather in its crown.

Here is a banquet that will

stave off hunger for many.

The timing is crucial.

By fruiting during the dry season,

the dipteryx guarantees that

many will gather for the feast.

Oddly enough, the tree wants

its fruit to be eaten

even though each fruit contains

a seed

that could bring forth

the next generation.

But why?

All these capuchin monkeys know

is that food is nearly at hand.

And if enough of them arrive,

they could drive the howlers

from this nutritious meal.

What scientists have discovered

is the fruit is actually

an expensive bribe.

If animals take it,

they may carry the seed locked

inside far from the parent tree.

The further away the seed gets,

the better its chance of surviving.

With ripening fruit all

around them,

the canopy animals can now

afford to be finicky eaters.

Once they've had the ripest bit,

they simply drop the fruit

and move on to the next.

But this rain of half-eaten fruit

is of no help to the tree in

its quest to reproduce.

Its seedlings have little luck

of thriving here

in the shadow of the parent's crown.

Still for the animals waiting below,

it's manna from heaven.

The coatis eat only the sweet flesh,

they leave the seed intact.

But others are waiting in the wings.

Once the coatis have relieved

their hunger,

agoutis gingerly join the feast.

Agoutis are rodents;

they have teeth

and jaws designed to gnaw right

through the tough shell

and devour the seed within.

Squirrels, too,

relish the giant seeds.

Instead of creating

new dipteryx trees,

the seeds simply feed a host

of hungry visitors...

...even peccaries.

Satiated, the coatis settle

into some mutual grooming.

In evening's golden light,

butterflies and ants gorge upon

the remains of the feast.

It's been a good day for

all the animals,

but bad for the lordly dipteryx.

Its potential offspring lie

where they would have fallen away;

nothing has carried them away.

Has the tree's survival

strategy failed?

Is the next generation lost?

Is there no help under the sun

for the dipteryx?

Perhaps the moon can shed some light

on the mystery of the dipteryx.

Tropical nights weave

their own magic

and unveil a whole new cast

of characters.

Everywhere, there are bats,

conjured out of the dark.

Among the branches hunts

a marsupial, a marmosa.

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