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How Potatoes Evolved

Crisps and mash owe their existence to a series of precise events that took place nine million years ago.

Science news First published 31 July 2025Crisps and mash owe their existence to a series of precise events that took place nine million years ago. This is based on evidence of domestication of the potato by societies on the shores of Lake Titicaca as early as 7,000 years ago, coupled with the fact that the diversity of wild species is highest in the Andes. By figuring out that this hybridisation event occurred roughly nine million years ago, they were also able to offer up a suggestion as to why the potato lineage was then able to rapidly diversify.

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