If you’re a fan of avocados, you might have heard that they only exist thanks to prehistoric creatures called giant ground sloths. In fact, you’ve probably heard that from us. But as it turns out, the real story is way more complicated - so here's Hank to break down the avocado fact and fiction. Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him) *We looked at both paleontological and archaeological evidence for this video, and in a couple places we said one when we meant the other, sorry!* Corrections: 2:41 This should be “the fossil record” 4:28 This should be "Paleontologists analyzed" ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Adam Brainard, Alex Hackman, Ash, Bryan Cloer, charles george, Chris Mackey, Chris Peters, Christoph Schwanke, Christopher R Boucher, Eric Jensen, Harrison Mills, Jaap Westera, Jason A, Saslow, Jeffrey Mckishen, Jeremy Mattern, Kevin Bealer, Matt Curls, Michelle Dove, Piya Shedden, Rizwan Kassim, Sam Lutfi ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow #SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly ---------- Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00KGL-HKPhU https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://en.wikipedia.org/&httpsredir=1&article=1046&context=nebanthro https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/15292/1/cuadbiod33_02.pdf https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.215.4528.19 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/abs/lipid-analysis-of-a-ground-sloth-coprolite/3CB7895E343F7A0B2188F8B3CB14031C https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0502777102 https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article/100/1/56/771306#13502018 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02904012 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104061821500498X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033589403000309 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard-Farina/publication/233548931_Diet_and_isotopes_of_Late_Pleistocene_ground_sloths_first_results_for_Lestodon_and_Glossotherium_Xenarthra_Tardigrada/links/0c96052e7ac630cd0a000000/Diet-and-isotopes-of-Late-Pleistocene-ground-sloths-first-results-for-Lestodon-and-Glossotherium-Xenarthra-Tardigrada.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97996-9 https://www.sci.news/paleontology/tooth-giant-ground-sloth-06974.html https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aau1200 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353982166_Lestodon_doesn't_want_your_avocado_toast_debunking_the_dietary_myths_of_late_Pleistocene_sloths_Mammalia_Pilosa#fullTextFileContent https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10722-009-9521-4 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1688516 https://www.reddit.com/r/botany/comments/iau56x/why_do_avocados_have_such_a_large_pit/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9789361/ https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0502777102 Image Sources: http://tinyurl.com/yh4hk5kr http://tinyurl.com/smjj667m http://tinyurl.com/3z2hb4mw https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/feeding-wild-capuchin-monkey-costa-rica-stock-footage/1217626597 https://tinyurl.com/mr2vza3d https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Megalonyx_wheatleyi_-_AMNH_-_DSC06327.JPG https://tinyurl.com/4knv9ujb https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Megatherium_americanum.jpg https://tinyurl.com/2s3mwbnk https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Megalonyx_jeffersonii_(1).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_large_coprolite_(fossilized_feces_or_dinosaur_poop)_from_South_Carolina,_USA..jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Megalonyx_wheatleyi12.jpg https://tinyurl.com/2bh8nsmb https://tinyurl.com/3jjad348 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shasta_ground_sloth_front.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_American_Museum_journal_(c1900-(1918))_(18159848595).jpg https://tinyurl.com/2975jat6 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rampart_Cave_interior_sloth_dung.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eremotherium_Lund_1842.png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eremotherium_laurillardi_784.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mylodon_fur.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mylodon_darwini.png https://tinyurl.com/28hwuwct https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paisaje_en_Texcala,_Puebla,_M%C3%A9xico.JPG https://tinyurl.com/2bh8nsmb https://tinyurl.com/bdffz89a https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avocado_Seedling.jpg https://tinyurl.com/2zyan5m6 https://tinyurl.com/3x2fcjz6 https://tinyurl.com/7mvps824 https://tinyurl.com/fxebxvdv https://tinyurl.com/2s365tfm https://tinyurl.com/4a3mhnmr https://tinyurl.com/m5zzkrp6 https://tinyurl.com/2v2bd8w4