由人類受試者採集實驗探究視覺選擇對豆類馴化的影響

Abstract

农业的发展可能是人类历史上最具革命性的转变。豆类的驯化涉及关键的形态和生理变化，特别是在种子传播、休眠和色素沉着方面。豆类驯化过程中最常见的变化是种子传播能力和色素沉着的降低。野生豆类的深色种皮在自然环境中起到天然伪装的作用，保护种子免受捕食者侵害。然而，人类对豆类的驯化选择不仅基于农业因素（如种子传播和休眠），也受到文化偏好（如视觉和感官特征）的影响。这种适应性特征可能影响了早期人类的选择行为，因为对较浅种皮颜色种子的视觉偏好可能促进了豆类最终的驯化。本研究探讨了视觉选择作为一种进化力量，是豆类驯化初期种皮颜色变化的重要原因。通过一系列的人类采集实验，参与者反复表现出对浅色种子的偏好，这意味着这些种子更易被察觉。然而，这种偏好并非刻意为之，而是视觉选择所产生的自然效果。统计分析（方差分析ANOVA）支持了参与者对浅色种子的选择，推测其原因是这些种子的可见性。本研究通过揭示豆类视觉选择在作物驯化中所起的作用，将人类感知与进化过程联系起来。

The development of agriculture is perhaps the most revolutionary transformation in human history. The domestication of beans involved key morphological and physiological changes, particularly in seed dispersal, dormancy, and pigmentation. The most frequent changes that happened during bean domestication are declines in seed dispersal and pigmentation. The dark seed coat color in wild beans serves as natural camouflage, protecting seeds from predators in the natural environment. However, Human selection for domestication is not solely based on agronomic factors (dispersal of seeds, seed dormancy), but also by cultural preferences, such as visual and sensory traits. This adaptive trait likely influenced early human selection practices, as visual preference for seeds with lighter seed coat colors may have contributed to the eventual domestication of beans. This research investigates visual selection acts as an evolutionary force that became the cause of the changes in seed coat coloration early in the process of domestication. Through a series of human collecting experiments, participants repeatedly preferred light-colored seeds, which implied that these seeds were more visible. This preference was not, however, deliberate, but an emergent effect of visual selection. The statistical analysis (ANOVA) supported that participant selected light-colored seeds, presumably because of their visibility. The study relates human perception to evolutionary evolution through the demonstration of how the visual selection of beans played a role in crop domestication.