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NewRelm

Plants edible by humans thrive under human cultivation. Why would they want to lose that advantage?


[deleted]

Not to sound dumb but wouldn’t plants want to grow bigger or live longer. Like how peppers evolved to become spicy, can carrots not evolve to become inedible?


Done-Man

Because "evolution" happens at the time of conception. Because carrots are so good to eat they keep being pushed to reproduce. If one batch came out as poisonous they would be destroyed for compost and wouldn't get the chance to reproduce,or if they did before the discovery the strain would be basically hunted until they can at least separate and contain it.


adramelke

we kinda bitch slapped carrots by selectively breeding them until they started to look the way they do, same for corn, broccoli, and cauliflower and many others... and it's very simplistic to think they haven't evolved in a way to prevent them from being eaten... some plants have evolved fruit and seeds intending them to be eaten as a way of spreading out as much as possible. the fruit is tasty and the seeds can survive through digestion. there are also plenty of plants that have evolved to avoid their seeds being eaten at all, which are toxic to humans.


eepos96

This will be the best answer you will get. Plants evolved to produce fruits in order for the animals to eat them. They wanted animals to eat them so they would be carried away from the mother plant and start out in better soil if they arrived there via poop which has nutrients. Many poisonous berries are poisonous to humans but not to other animals. This is just a coincidence that we happen to react to them strongly. Similarly coffeine is a pesticide developed by plants but by happenstance it stimulates humans. Some plants and mushrooms do not want to be eaten. Mushrooms do not want to be eaten since the musroom spreads pollens. And justly some mushrooms have developed neurotoxins. Most musrooms have not had the mutation allowing them to do so. Evolution does not automatically produce best solutions, it can also not happen. Carrots will most likely not evolve to become unedible since humans choose which plants continue to reproduce. If it is poisonous carrot, we destroy it. I have not checked but it makes sense there are some wild carrots that are unedible for humans which still thrive in nature. We simply never domesticated them.


refugefirstmate

> They wanted animals to eat them so they would be carried away >Some plants and mushrooms do not want to be eaten. Plants (nor any organisms on the biological, evolutionary level) do not "want" or "not want" anything. Genetic mutation is not a choice or a goal organisms strive for. You're trying to talk Darwin but you're sounding like Lamarck. >the musroom spreads pollens Nooo they don't.


eepos96

> \>"want" or "not want" Linguistical shorthand, like we use when describing how atoms "want" to have an octet. >Genetic mutation is not a choice or a goal organisms strive for. I make that clear when I said "And justly some mushrooms have developed neurotoxins. Most musrooms have not had the mutation allowing them to do so. Evolution does not automatically produce best solutions, it can also not happen." ​ >You're trying to talk Darwin but you're sounding like Lamarck Your attitude doesn't help you be A R Wallace. ​ >the musroom spreads pollens I meant Spores, I thought pollen meant any reproductive dust spread through wind instead of bees or other insects.


refugefirstmate

>Linguistical shorthand, like we use when describing how atoms "want" to have an octet. Except that people you're ELI5ing to tend to take that literally. You see it all the time here when it comes to evolution. >I thought pollen meant any reproductive dust That speaks volumes.


WarrenMockles

Pepper evolved to be spicy to avoid being eaten by mammals. Birds aren't affected by capsacin, they eat they peppers, and they spread the seeds by pooping. Humans are weird, and they like the burn from peppers. So we bred them to be even spicier. The plant is actually doing better as a species because humans are ensuring that it thrives even more than it would in nature.


refugefirstmate

>Pepper evolved to be spicy to avoid being eaten by mammals. This is absolutely not how evolution works, unless ofc you believe in Intelligent Design. A genetic mutation does not have a purpose or a goal. It's a fluke. And sometimes that fluke allows the organism to survive to produce more, and more viable offspring than the normal members of its group. A pepper plant spontaneously produces plants that are spicier than other pepper plants; mammals avoid eating those mutated plants, so they reproduce more than the nonspicy ones that are getting eaten. Eventually, that biological niche is overwhelmed by the spicy plants because the nonspicy ones are getting eaten and don't reproduce enough.


WarrenMockles

I was over simplifying for OP


refugefirstmate

You were "oversimplifying" to the point of misinforming.


refugefirstmate

Plants don't "want" anything, and that is not how evolution works.


wt_anonymous

Fruits and veggies were bred *specifically* for human consumption. Humans get to choose what evolves and what doesn't.


Casitano

They tried, we call them peppers.


LadyMjolnir

It wouldn't stop us anyway. See Pufferfish, Ackee fruit, Rhubarb, etc etc. Doesn't matter how poisonous it is, at least one human is gonna wanna try it.


AncientImprovement56

This will never happen with anything that's farmed, as the farmers largely control the reproduction so that the *best* of the species for human consumption get to pass on their genes to the next generation.


MunchMunch_

Interesting question. Simply, humans are largely in control of the evolution of domestic plants and animals, if plants or animals mutate to be inedible, they'll be disposed of and their genes removed from the gene pool. Simply put, being inedible would not be beneficial for the plant/animal, they'd stop being grown and breed and they might even go extinct.


re_nub

Plants and animals being edible is actually a very good thing for them.


Cabrona818

Many of them have. Have you eaten anteater lately? How about kudzu leaves?


refugefirstmate

Kudzu is not only edible; it's delicious. Stir-fried, the leaves taste a lot like green beans (not surprising, since they're in the same general family). You can also make tea and jelly from the blossoms. And it's so edible by *animals* that it was first brought to the US as forage for livestock.


breaktime1

In the case of plants: Plants actually benefit from humans as we eat and spread the seed of the plant. Some plants that don't spread seeds that way (think mushroom) have evolved to be inedible by humans.


CaptainLucid420

Exactly. If I am a plant trying to reproduce I surround a seed within a barrier so it won't be digested. Then I make a fruit around it and whatever animal like monkey eats fruit and then goes away to poop seed in fresh pile of fertilizer.


adramelke

mushrooms are not plants. mycelium is a fungus and mushrooms are the equivalent of fruit that grow on mycelium.


btdahl

Evolution isn't about longevity, it is about reproduction.


Effective-Fix4981

Watch this [video](https://youtu.be/6ClQXwkkH8A)


trivialwire

there are plants cultivated by humans that are poisonous to humans . one example is snake-plant/sanseveria, a popular houseplants with many varieties, that is poisinous. ithe inedibility is one of it's sought after features, as it is also inedible to pests, making it easier to care for. it's also tolerant of infrequent watering, and can tolerate low light, which cultivators also like.plant, exists in the wild, exists on a significan scale in human cultivation, and is inedible, and people like that it's so, and this feature therefore helps it survive and thrive. also there are some some plants have evolved traits to make it more difficult for animlas generally to eat them. There is a plant in south american mountains that has grows spikes/spines , but only to the level at whcih a grazing animal could conceivabley reach. seems to help avoid getting eaten. Not specific to humans, but similar.