Avocado Anachronism

When laurels evolved long ago

Some became an avocado

A berry with a monstrous seed.

Its flesh was poison to most

Of swallowing it whole, few could boast

Only the largest could use it to feed.

Ground sloths of considerable size

And gomphotheres, I would surmise

Would have had the guts to digest.

Too bad, these animals are gone

So sad, their demise at the dawn

Of humans, whose hunting was best.

Ten thousand years in the past

These mammals died out very fast

Although humans spared white-tailed deer.

Still, avocadoes live on today

Helped by those who like to say

Guacamole, but not gomphothere.