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

Because there’s one species of animal that isn’t affected by capsaicin (the stuff that makes peppers hot) and that’s birds. Birds also swallow seeds whole, unlike other animals that bite and chew their food.
Birds eat the spicy fruit without any pain, fly around and poop out the seeds, so more pepper plants can grow