Why do hot pepper plants exist? Wouldn’t it have been an evolutionary disadvantage to have fruits that were painful for animals to eat?

Question

Why do hot pepper plants exist? Wouldn’t it have been an evolutionary disadvantage to have fruits that were painful for animals to eat?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Hot peppers taste hot to us because it has a chemical called capsaicin. We as mammals have receptors that can detected it, however, those receptors are missing in birds. As such birds are able to eat hot pepper without feeling the heat. This is actually an evolutionary strategy since birds don’t chew the seeds those leaving them intact after they distribute them through their droppings.