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Scientists Solve Mystery of World-Traveling Plant

Posted by samzenpus on from the long-journey dept.

sciencehabit writes "By land or by sea? That's the question scientists have been pondering for decades when it comes to the bottle gourd, a plant with a hard-skinned fruit that's used by cultures all over the world to make lightweight containers and other tools. Archaeologists know that people were using domesticated bottle gourds in the Americas as early as 10,000 years ago. But how did the plant make the jump from its original home in Africa to the New World with an ocean in the way? A new study overturns previous evidence pointing to a human-assisted land migration and concludes that the bottle gourd floated across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas on its own."

11 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Incomplete research perhaps? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did they really investigate the theory that it was carried by a swallow?

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    1. Re:Incomplete research perhaps? by Lehk228 · · Score: 4, Funny

      african or european swallow?

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      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    2. Re:Incomplete research perhaps? by jc42 · · Score: 2

      Clearly laden in this case, though even for a swallow a squash/gourd seed isn't much of a load.

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      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    3. Re:Incomplete research perhaps? by RivenAleem · · Score: 2

      Irrelevant, there isn't enough fibrous husk on the bottle gourd for a swallow (or pair thereof) to grip on to.

  2. Ancient by tom229 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Aliens.

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    If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  3. Re:Fungus is not a plant! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That hasn't stopped RMS from cultivating toe jam and jelly not from a general store.

  4. Oblig by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

    http://www.phdcomics.com/comic...

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    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  5. Message in a Bottle Gourd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Walked out this morning. Don't believe what I saw. A hundred billion gourds washed up on the shore. Sending out their DNA.

  6. Tsunami by retroworks · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How often do tsunamis happen, and how big do they get? Japanese gourds wound up all over the North American Pacific beaches. http://www.npr.org/2013/02/06/...

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  7. Maybe a swallow did it... by bioneuralnet · · Score: 2

    "Are you suggesting that bottle gourds migrate?"

  8. Re:Obligatory by cusco · · Score: 3, Informative

    No, the bottle gourd exists in its present form because it has been domesticated for so long. It may well be the first domesticated plant, domesticated so long in fact that it only reproduces in the wild with great difficulty. The shell is so impervious to water that seeds don't get watered until the pod finally rots a year or more later, by which time the seeds are no longer viable.

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