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waddapfurfee t1_jad31bi wrote

Reply to comment by TheRhythmZ in [WP] "One drip of this poison is enough to kill a whale." The scientist points towards a table, but the beaker isn't there. Instead a silly coffee cup shaped like a beaker sits. You lower the not coffee cup from your mouth. Tastes like lemon-lime. by DistillerCMac

And then there are birds, who eat it up without batting an eye. Wonder how

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Ignisami t1_jad62mc wrote

They don't have the receptors that capsaicin binds to, and thus are entirely immune to its effects.

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I_Automate t1_jadqg6d wrote

This is selected for.

The peppers want to avoid being eaten by land animals, who would shit their seeds out nearby. But they DO want to be eaten by birds, who will shit their seeds out far away, thus spreading the species.

So....make a defense mechanism that is super effective against land animals, but has no effect on birds.

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IIOrannisII t1_jadu0cx wrote

Also, birds do not masticate and so will not damage the seeds whenever they eat them, whereas those land animals will oftentimes grind the seeds down with their molars destroying the seeds ability to reproduce.

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axialintellectual t1_jaduryl wrote

Good thing too that the one land animal mad enough to think they're tasty is also mad enough to domesticate them and plant them everywhere, so it's a win for the peppers anyway.

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I_Automate t1_jadxzyc wrote

...mad enough to selectively breed and genetically modify them to be even more painful, because we just love the pain.

If that doesn't say something about us I don't know what does.

EDIT- Relevant comic.

(https://i.imgur.com/BkcjFoG.png)

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Squigglepops t1_jae58sq wrote

Painful AND pretty - can't just have pain. Has took like it was birthed in hellfire too.

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VictorytheBiaromatic t1_jaew6o1 wrote

Well it is more of a byproduct since the levels of capsaicin only increase with increased presence of water in the environment and it only gets stronger as it ripens. So it is more likely that the plant uses the compound as an antifungal with its ability to ward off unsuitable animals be a byproduct

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Zorro5040 t1_jadjco8 wrote

The lack the receptors, leaving them without the ability to taste. Not sure if birds developed it to eat plants or if plants developed it so only birds eat it. Either way, birds are the ones who carry and spread the seeds.

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