Without us, pumpkins may have gone extinct
People in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving each year with a feast that includes pumpkins. But it turns out that pumpkins—along with the rest of Cucurbita, the plant genus that includes gourds and squash, have us to thank, too. More than 10,000 years ago, the extremely bitter-tasting wild ancestors of Cucurbita plants were thriving across the New World, along with the large mammals such as giant sloths and mammoths that grazed on them. Today those wild plants are rare, whereas the sweet-tasting domesticated species are extremely common—in our gardens, that is. What would have happened to pumpkins, gourds, and squash without human intervention? A genetic analysis of 91 Cucurbita species paints a dark picture. One finding is that the p… Continue Reading (2 minute read)