Not Your Ancestor’s Turkey

Turkey always serves as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving Day meal, but many of today’s birds are far from what originators of the holiday ate. Scientist from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics have found that domestic turkeys that now end up on dinner tables vary greatly from their ancestral wild counterparts that were first domesticated in 800 B.C. The study showed that breast development and size were major differences. Commercial turkeys served today descended from Mexico and were discovered during the Spanish Conquest and transported to Europe. Learn more (Smithsonian) or review the study.