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Author
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Topic: Why do apples taste good?
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Doddy
Member (Idle past 5937 days) Posts: 563 From: Brisbane, Australia Joined: 01-04-2007
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Dr Adequate writes: I think we can rule out option 2 --- clearly having tasty fruit makes it more likely that the seeds will be eaten. Not really what taylor was saying. He was saying that perhaps the plant could accidently become tasty by using a defence mechanism that some creatures found quite palatable. As posted by Coragyps, chilli peppers (and bell peppers especially  ) are yummy to many of us, but evolved that 'yumminess' (which, as you say, isn't inherent in the plant) to protect themselves.
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| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 10 by Dr Adequate, posted 05-30-2007 10:34 AM | | Dr Adequate has not replied |
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Doddy
Member (Idle past 5937 days) Posts: 563 From: Brisbane, Australia Joined: 01-04-2007
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Message 25 of 41 (402980)
05-31-2007 7:32 AM
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Reply to: Message 23 by taylor_31
05-31-2007 2:39 AM
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taylor_31 writes: I'm not sure I understand. You're saying that our metabolisms can adapt to our diet, but I thought Western diets were actually worse for our bodies than other cultures (*cough* McDonalds *cough*). Have our metabolisms sped up or something to compensate for the unhealthiness? Have they adapted for survival benefits? Well, this is in fact getting away from the topic, but in fact those high fat, high sugar diets would have been great if you were a palaeolithic hunter - you would want all that energy. That's why they taste so good. The main problem is that now we don't have to hunt down our hamburger or trek across the forest for our sugary drink - we just drive through and don't even get up off our seats.
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| This message is a reply to: | | | Message 23 by taylor_31, posted 05-31-2007 2:39 AM | | taylor_31 has not replied |
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Doddy
Member (Idle past 5937 days) Posts: 563 From: Brisbane, Australia Joined: 01-04-2007
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Re: sloths a joke?
BattleAxeDime writes: Or does it still have a use? Those chemicals probably cause the fruit to have its characteristic taste to humans, so there will be a great selective pressure for the avocados grown commercially to retain those chemicals. If they lose them, they will taste like rubbish and not be sown in the next planting.
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Contributors needed for the following articles: Pleiotropy, Metabolism, Promoter, Invertebrate, Meiosis, DNA, Transcription, Chromosome, Tetrapod, Fossil, Phenotype, Messenger RNA, Mammals, Appendix , Variation, Selection, Gene, Gametogenesis, Homo erectus and others. Registration not needed, but if desired, register here!
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