The tremendous diversity of floral and fruit traits is, to a large extent, a set of adaptations that promote plant reproduction through animal pollinators and seed dispersers. Yet, it is still unknown whether fruit scent is a by-product of fruit maturation or an evolved communication channel with animal mutualists. We show that in species that specialize on seed dispersal by lemurs-an olfactorily oriented primate-fruits increase scent production and change their chemical composition significantly more than sympatric species whose seeds are largely dispersed by birds. We further show that lemurs use these shifts in fruit scent to identify ripe fruits. These results show that fruit scent is an evolved communication system that facilitates animal-plant mutualism.

中文翻译：

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水果气味作为灵长类动物种子传播的进化信号。

花卉和果实性状的巨大多样性在很大程度上是通过动物传粉媒介和种子传播者促进植物繁殖的一系列适应。然而，水果气味是水果成熟的副产品还是与动物互惠者之间不断发展的交流渠道，仍然是未知的。我们显示，在专门通过狐猴（一种嗅觉定向的灵长类水果）进行种子传播的物种中，比同种异形物种（其种子大部分被鸟类散布）增加了气味的产生并改变了它们的化学组成。我们进一步表明，狐猴利用水果气味的这些变化来识别成熟的水果。这些结果表明，水果香气是一种进化的交流系统，可促进动植物的共生。