Posted on 05/12/2018 1:58:52 PM PDT by blam
Sweet potatoes were domesticated thousands of years ago in the Americas. So 18th century European explorers were surprised to find Polynesians had been growing the crop for centuries. New genetic evidence instead suggests that wild precursors to sweet potatoes reached Polynesia at least 100,000 years ago — long before humans inhabited the South Pacific islands, researchers report April 12 in Current Biology. If true, it could also challenge the idea that Polynesian seafarers reached the Americas around the 12th century.
For the new study, the researchers analyzed the DNA of 199 specimens taken from sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) and 38 species of its wild relatives. The goal, says plant geneticist Tom Carruthers of the University of Oxford, was to “gain insight into the origins of the sweet potato — when it arose, where it arose and how it arose.”
Carruthers and his colleagues confirmed previous research that the sweet potato’s closest relative is the flowering Ipomoea trifida, which is similar to a morning glory. The genetic analysis shows that sweet potatoes originated from I. trifida at least 800,000 years ago, and then later interbred with I. trifida. It also shows that a specimen preserved from Captain James Cook’s 1769 expedition to the South Pacific is genetically different from South American sweet potatoes.
The researchers calculated the average rate of genetic change for the plant, determining that the Polynesian sweet potato diverged from its South American cousin at least 100,000 years ago. That suggests the plants, or their seeds, somehow migrated across the ocean on their own, possibly via wind, water or birds. Precedent exists, the authors note. Two other Ipomoea species crossed the Pacific about a million years ago — to Hawaii in one case, and to islands from Polynesia to Madagascar in the other.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
GGG Ping.
I always knew that the coconut theory wasn't that far-fetched.
It wasn’t an African swallow, it wasn’t a European swallow, it was a Polynesian swallow!
I always knew that the coconut theory wasn’t that far-fetched.
Explain to me how a sweet potato crossed the Pacific
on a coconut...Hah, I thought so.
I YAM THAT I YAM - God
“I yam whats I yam, and that’s all that I yam” - Popeye
What would be really impressive is if sweet-potato pie arrived there before humans.
Don’t bet on it. Humans may not have left traces found yet but the standard view of mankind is so full of holes the Swiss would sell it as cheese.
Ancient twine using sparrows strike again!
It’s all very nice to be curious and learn things...things of value. What value is there in knowing how long sweet potatoes have been in Polynesia and where they came from? Will that knowledge increase sweet potato production, or improve their nutritional content?
Bottom line, if they’re spending their own money to find out, no harm, no foul. But they’re usually spending OUR money! Apply this principle to all the interesting but useless studies going on; save us a bundle.
Thank you.
Kon Tiki???
Chopped walnuts, brown sugar and mini-marshmallows weren’t far behind...
The trade winds go in one direction for half of the year, and in the other direction for the other half of the year.
Knowing things like this helps you pick up women in bars. So there :-).
Finally, proof that the colored version of Mr Potatohead did exist and he was quite the ocean traveler. But, eventually, he was killed off by humans who made little pedal-powered SUVs out of bamboo and palm fronds which destroyed the native habitats of the Mr Potatohead of Color. After that, the white Mr Potatoheads colonized the world, spreading their racism.
Note that according to a professor at NYU, the colored Mr Potatoheads were not originally the color of Trump’s hair. They were dark brown and built magnificent cities of crystal. After the white Mr. Potatohead colonized the world, the Trump-colored Mr Potatohead was created through rape and slavery.
“What value is there in knowing how long sweet potatoes have been in Polynesia and where they came from? Will that knowledge increase sweet potato production, or improve their nutritional content?”
That sounds straight outta the USSR. One of the most compelling things science can do is tell us the story of how humanity spread across the earth and give us some answers about our history.
And if government is spending my money to increase production or nutritional content, I would say that is more properly the job of the sweet potato industry.
Yup. I picked up a chick talking about the Hapsburgs. Been married to her for 27 years.
No kidding. The Pak brought them.
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