Cool things I learned this week: Why do some fruits continue to ripen after they’re picked (bananas, avocados), but others don’t (grapes, berries)?
The answer: It depends on what type of animals help propagate the fruit’s seeds.
If a fruit is mainly eaten (therefore propagated) by land animals, then it’s evolutionarily beneficial for it to continue to ripen after it falls from the tree.
But if a fruit is mainly eaten by birds or arboreal creatures (creatures living in trees), then there’s no advantage to continued ripening once it’s fallen to the ground.
Super cool!!!
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4b57be_bc8ec83e93f64c52bf8b41a8cbbfc123~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_53,h_33,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/4b57be_bc8ec83e93f64c52bf8b41a8cbbfc123~mv2.png)