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New research says corn was domesticated from teosinte 1,500 years earlier than formerly documented.
Indigenous peoples living in the lowland areas of southwestern Mexico may have cultivated corn or maize more than 8,700 years ago according to new research. Molecular biologists recently identified a large, wild grass called Balsas teosinte as the ancestor of maize. The suppression of branching from the stalk resulted in a lower number of ears per plant but allows each ear to grow larger. The hard case around the kernel disappeared over time. Today, maize has just a few ears of corn growing on one unbranched stalk.
Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation
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Related story: Wild Grass Became Maize Crop More Than 8,700 Years Ago