
Centuries-old paintings help researchers track food evolution - benbreen
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-paintings-can-teach-us-about-evolution-food-180975381/
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causality0
I was pleasantly surprised that the article didn't trot out the now-debunked
watermelon painting which so often headlines the more pop-sci articles on this
subject.

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Retric
The watermelon is less debunked than you might think, due to black seeds in
the painting. [https://www.vox.com/2015/7/28/9050469/watermelon-breeding-
pa...](https://www.vox.com/2015/7/28/9050469/watermelon-breeding-paintings)

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causality0
Considering that Brueghel proved "modern" watermelons, which are much sweeter,
existed at the time, I think it's more likely Stanchi just decided it looked
better with black seeds instead of white.

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Retric
Possibly, but debunked suggest a degree of certainty that’s clearly missing.
He may have also chosen the variety simply due to visual appeal over taste
etc.

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causality0
Still, "Giovanni Stanchi's painting from the 17th century shows how much
watermelon has changed" is a fundamentally incorrect statement even if he was
accurately depicting a variety of watermelon. It would be a now-uncommon or
extinct cultivar, not the precursor to modern watermelons since they already
existed. It's like showing a painting of a Salish Wool Dog and remarking on
how it shows dogs have changed.

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Retric
Except different breeds of apples etc are still called apples. If a type of
watermelon went from common to extreme rarity that’s a change in what’s being
planted and consumed. Presumably because of some issues with the earlier
version of what we are now consuming.

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causality0
It gives the lay reader a false impression that today's watermelons are direct
descendants of Stanchi's type in the same way today's corn is a direct
descendant of teosinte.

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Retric
That’s really only speaking to the ignorance of readers as progressive
refinement in agriculture generally involves close relatives rather than
direct descendants. Disease resistance for example is frequently the issue
causing such jumps. Availability is what’s important to consumers not genetic
history.

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wjn0
Very neat. It sounds like they're curating a dataset ripe for machine
learning.

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interestica
> ripe for machine learning.

Yes, that might be the fruit of their labour.

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interestica
> Initially, the scientist theorized that Snyders, who specialized in still-
> life paintings featuring fruit, vegetables and animals, lacked talent.

Ha. Harsh first hypothesis.

