We might have to rethink everything we thought we knew about the evolutionary history of the nightshade (Solanaceae) family of plants, a category that includes tomatoes, potatoes, and chili peppers.
This latest study was sparked off by a fresh look at fossils uncovered in museum collections, which hadn't been identified as chili peppers but which bore the tell-tale signs of coming from that family: little spikes sticking out from the end of a fruiting stem. To the trained eye, that marks them out as Solanaceae plants.evolutionary biologist Rocío Deanna from the University of Colorado Boulder."But it was so characteristic of the chili pepper.
Our world would've looked very different back then though: no ice anywhere, much higher sea levels, and twice as much carbon dioxide in the air. Chili peppers would have been more like fruit we commonly think of as berries back then, the researchers say, though probably still as spicy. The nightshade family is mostly found in the tropics today, where the atmosphere is warmer. Now experts have got tens of millions of extra years to weigh up, it could teach us more about how plants adapt and survive as the planet's climate shifts.
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