Tree Pisonia kills birds just for the idea

It is not unusual for plants to pierce or hang their seeds to a helpless animal that has come to look for food or a place to rest. But a kind of tropical tree has gone really far in the distribution of its seeds by killing many of the birds that land on its branches, weighing them seriously and making them impossible to fly.

The problem is that there is no specific reason for this massacre, which has led an ecologist to claim that this is just a sinister whim of evolution.

Many of the species of Pisonia tree produce long seeds covered with a mucus layer of tannin and saturated with sharp hooks that will catch on almost anything they touch, including insects and many sea birds trying to nest on the tree.

What really distinguishes the tree from others that use glue or thorns to provide seed transport is that these seeds can accumulate very quickly, especially if a bird lands on the ground beneath the tree. This increases to smaller specimens and prevents them from flying.

Unless they are caught by a flying predator, most birds die and decompose under the tree.

Source: www.euroscientist.com , www.pixabay.com