TY - JOUR
T1 - Peaches Preceded Humans
T2 - Fossil Evidence from SW China
AU - Su, Tao
AU - Wilf, Peter
AU - Huang, Yongjiang
AU - Zhang, Shitao
AU - Zhou, Zhekun
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank J. H. Kirkbride for assistance at the U.S. National Seed Herbarium; T. Ryan for CT scanning and analyses; and L. Wang for SEM assistance. The Central Laboratory in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden provided technical support for imaging; R. Wilf assisted with drafts; D. Layne, W.-C. Fang, G.-R. Zhu, and Y.-F. Zheng provided helpful advice on modern cultivars; Q.-J. Li gave constructive suggestions; and S.-H. Li provided geological information. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31470325 to T.S. and 41372035 to Z.K.Z.); the 973 Project (No. 2012CB821900 to Z.K.Z.); the Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, CAS (No. 143107 to T.S. and No. 123107 to Y.J.H.); the CAS 135 program (No. XTBG-T01 and XTBG-F01 to Z.K.Z.); and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (to P.W.). This work is a contribution to NECLIME (Neogene Climate Evolution in Eurasia).
PY - 2015/11/26
Y1 - 2015/11/26
N2 - Peach (Prunus persica, Rosaceae) is an extremely popular tree fruit worldwide, with an annual production near 20 million tons. Peach is widely thought to have origins in China, but its evolutionary history is largely unknown. The oldest evidence for the peach has been Chinese archaeological records dating to 8000-7000 BP. Here, we report eight fossil peach endocarps from late Pliocene strata of Kunming City, Yunnan, southwestern China. The fossils are identical to modern peach endocarps, including size comparable to smaller modern varieties, a single seed, a deep dorsal groove, and presence of deep pits and furrows. These fossils show that China has been a critical region for peach evolution since long before human presence, much less agriculture. Peaches evolved their modern morphology under natural selection, presumably involving large, frugivorous mammals such as primates. Much later, peach size and variety increased through domestication and breeding.
AB - Peach (Prunus persica, Rosaceae) is an extremely popular tree fruit worldwide, with an annual production near 20 million tons. Peach is widely thought to have origins in China, but its evolutionary history is largely unknown. The oldest evidence for the peach has been Chinese archaeological records dating to 8000-7000 BP. Here, we report eight fossil peach endocarps from late Pliocene strata of Kunming City, Yunnan, southwestern China. The fossils are identical to modern peach endocarps, including size comparable to smaller modern varieties, a single seed, a deep dorsal groove, and presence of deep pits and furrows. These fossils show that China has been a critical region for peach evolution since long before human presence, much less agriculture. Peaches evolved their modern morphology under natural selection, presumably involving large, frugivorous mammals such as primates. Much later, peach size and variety increased through domestication and breeding.
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U2 - 10.1038/srep16794
DO - 10.1038/srep16794
M3 - Article
C2 - 26610240
AN - SCOPUS:84948450579
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 5
JO - Scientific reports
JF - Scientific reports
M1 - 16794
ER -