Sideroxylon grandiflorum

Seeds of Calvariabaum, in the National Museum of Natural History " Naturalis " in Leiden, The Netherlands

The Calvariabaum ( Sideroxylon grandiflorum ) ( Syn: calvaria major) belongs to the family of Sapotengewächse ( Sapotaceae ) and is found only in Mauritius. The timber of this type is used as the timber.

In the 1970s there were only 13 living about 300 years old trees of this species that are no longer propagated itself. Meanwhile, it has been found that the seeds of trees can germinate if they are fed either turkeys, or when the thickness of the seed coat is sanded manually. The number of trees has increased since then by the Forestry Commission plantations in Mauritius again.

The Calvariabaum was primarily known as Temple ( 1977) published his hypothesis on the possible extinction of this species: the extinction of the dodo, a native flightless pigeon, to be responsible for the decline in Calvariabäume thereafter. The dodo has devoured the fruit and so the seeds were ground in his digestive tract, prepared for germination. Since the dodo was extinct, so does the Calvariabäume could no longer naturally rejuvenate.

Other authors have since contradicted this theory and argue that younger trees were available in the 1970s - and therefore the relationship between Dodo and Calvariabaum could not have been so closely. They believe that either other, later extinct species might have caused the spread of this tree, or make imported animals for the low natural regeneration of this tree species responsible.