Apply Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection to explain how capsaicins have enhanced the survival of peppers

What will be an ideal response?


The best responses should include: A discussion of a fruit as a dispersal mechanism for seeds (each seed contains an embryo). Many fruits are edible, thus seeds pass through the digestive tract of animals and are dispersed into different environments. When a mammal eats a pepper fruit, the stomach acid of the mammal will often kill the seeds. When a bird eats a pepper the seeds are less affected by the bird's digestive tract and thus have a better change of surviving. Capsaicins, which are found in the pepper fruit, are not hot to birds but are very unpleasant to many mammals. Therefore, mammals are discouraged from eating hot peppers. In terms of natural selection, capsaicins discouraged mammals from eating peppers. This allowed birds to eat more peppers, thus successfully dispersing pepper seeds and enhancing the survival of pepper plants and perhaps some species of birds as well.

Biology & Microbiology

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