zoochory

Why this word is great

ZOOCHORY — [Noun] The dispersal of seeds, spores, or fruit through animal agency. From zoo- ("animal"), from Greek ζῷον (zōion, "animal") + -chory ("dispersal"), from Greek χωρεῖν (khōrein, "to spread or disperse"). Unlike anemochory (wind-driven scattering) or hydrochory (water-borne drifting), zoochory enlists mobile creatures as unwitting couriers. It is the sticky hitchhiker on a raccoon’s paw, the fleshy fruit devoured by a toucan and defecated aloft, the nut buried by a jay and never retrieved—a threefold pact between plant and animal, sealed by hunger and forgetfulness.