How did original maize (with at most ten kernels) develop into the modern corn we eat today?

• A. Import seeds from elsewhere
• B. Random mutation
• C. Climate change
• D. Selective planting

Answer: (D)

Selective planting by early farmers—the deliberate choice to save and replant seeds from the best-appearing ears—drove the transformation from the original maize (teosinte) to the corn we eat today. By continually selecting ears with more kernels and traits that made harvesting easier, each successive generation of plants carried those desirable features more strongly. Over many generations, this human-guided breeding produced larger ears, many more kernels per ear, and traits that made the crop easier to cultivate and harvest. This is a classic example of artificial selection: the characteristics that fit farming needs were repeatedly chosen and amplified, reshaping the plant far beyond its wild ancestor. Climate change or random mutations can influence plants, but the steady, directional change seen in maize comes from intentional selection and propagation, not those factors alone. Importing seeds could introduce variation, but it isn’t the process that produced the long-term domestication from a few-kernel ear to modern corn.