WEBVTT - Would We Have Pumpkin Pie If Mastodons Had Survived?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff lorn vogoba here. Back before pumpkin pies were

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<v Speaker 1>even a glimmer in the eyes of Bakers, Eistocene era mastodons,

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<v Speaker 1>mammoths and giant sloths were spreading the seeds of these

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<v Speaker 1>fruit far and wide. Anywhere that these huge animals, collectively

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<v Speaker 1>known as megafauna roamed would become a dumping ground, if

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<v Speaker 1>you'll pardon the pun. Before these seeds of pumpkins squash

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<v Speaker 1>and other members of the genus Cucurbetta, which would then

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<v Speaker 1>spring up from those seeds. But while these wild fruits

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<v Speaker 1>were nourishing giant animals, these ancestral pumpkins were not yet

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<v Speaker 1>part of the diet of humans or smaller animals due

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<v Speaker 1>to the plant's toxicity and better taste. A study by

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<v Speaker 1>an international group of researchers who looked at Gordon squash

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<v Speaker 1>seeds in Mastodon dung has shown that the extinction of

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<v Speaker 1>megafauna about twelve thousand years ago lead in a rather

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<v Speaker 1>roundabout way, to the evolution of Cucurbitda from the toxic

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<v Speaker 1>and bitter into the pasty pumpkins and other winter squash

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<v Speaker 1>that we enjoy for Thanksgiving, and which in turn evolved

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<v Speaker 1>into the now ubiquitous pumpkin spice lattes, beers, and ice creams.

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<v Speaker 1>Though note that there is a difference between pumpkin flavoring

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<v Speaker 1>and pumpkin spice flavoring. The latter may be made up

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<v Speaker 1>with fall pie spices like allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg,

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<v Speaker 1>and have no actual pumpkin flavoring involved. But how could

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<v Speaker 1>the extinction of megafauna back then a lad us even

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<v Speaker 1>in a roundabout way to autumn's most used fall flavor. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I think of coevolution, that is, when two or more

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<v Speaker 1>species mutually affect each other's evolution. For the article, this

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Lee Newsom,

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<v Speaker 1>co author of the studying question and an associate professor

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<v Speaker 1>of anthropology at and State. She said, there's a whole

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<v Speaker 1>suite of plants that have co evolved. It's called dispersal mutualism.

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<v Speaker 1>With animals, there's a large number that are co evolved

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<v Speaker 1>with mammals. Some just hitch a ride on mammal fur

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<v Speaker 1>then ultimately fall off somewhere. The fruit of other plants,

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<v Speaker 1>such as the wild gourds that giant sloths and wooly

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<v Speaker 1>rhinos chowed on, are eaten and their seeds expelled, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>miles from where the original plant grew. Imagine automobile sized

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<v Speaker 1>mastodons running rampant across the environment of what's now North

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<v Speaker 1>Florida and Georgia, eating wild gourds, then expelling seeds which

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<v Speaker 1>are still lodged in the dung that Newsome and her

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<v Speaker 1>team found and studied. As the environment warmed following the

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<v Speaker 1>most recent ice age and the large mammals became extinct,

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<v Speaker 1>Newsome explained, quote the plants were left without their primary

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<v Speaker 1>partner and disperser, but enter a new partner us and

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<v Speaker 1>Nuson explained, by then humans were present, and we're starting

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<v Speaker 1>to make use of wild gourds and squash for containers,

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<v Speaker 1>and ultimately humans are planting the seeds and changing them.

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<v Speaker 1>As the plants evolved, it adapted to the new environment.

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<v Speaker 1>Smaller animals found that some of the cucurbidda didn't taste

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<v Speaker 1>as bitter anymore. Over that dozen millennia that have passed

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<v Speaker 1>since the end of the place to see an ice age,

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<v Speaker 1>wild gourds and squash evolved into the tasty foods we

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<v Speaker 1>eat today. So next time you're chowing down on a

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<v Speaker 1>pumpkin pie, squash casserole, or pumpkin spice latte, remember the

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<v Speaker 1>mastodons and they're dung. Without the demise of megafauna, pumpkins

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<v Speaker 1>might have remained bitter and unpleasant to our palate and

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<v Speaker 1>would have a much less flayorful diet. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article Mastodons and mammoths gave their lives

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<v Speaker 1>so you could have pumpkin spice latte on house to

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com, written by Karen Kirkpatrick. Brain Sets production

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<v Speaker 1>of I Heart Radio and partnership with has stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Klang. Four

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