Got your tatties, neeps and nips ready? Caught your haggis? It's #BurnsNight2021, but ever wondered how your dinner evolved - not historically, but scientifically?

A THREAD on the #evolution of your iconic #BurnsSupper! #Scotland #Science #haggis

First, tatties. The humble, versatile and delicious potato, (Solanum tuberosum) is a flowering plant, or angiosperm. Genetics tells us angiosperms appeared as early as the Jurassic, but really took off in the Early Cretaceous. Their evolution changed the world! #BurnsNight2021

Tatties are related to aubergines, tomatoes & peppers, but whereas we eat the fruits of those plants, we eat potato tubers - enlarged structures among the roots, which store nutrients. Tatties were domesticated around 10,000 years ago in the Americas. #BurnsNight2021

Neeps (turnips) are also angiosperms, in the Brassica genus. This also includes broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, choy sum & mustard. They are old-world plants, & aren't everyone's favourite, having a distinct flavour... but neeps are essential for a Burns supper! #BurnsNight2021

Nips - of whisky of course! A good single malt is best, made with barley & purest spring water. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a grass (another angiosperm), one of the oldest grains to be cultivated in Eurasia around 11,000 years ago. #BurnsNight2021

Grasses spread quickly 35 million years ago as Earth's climate cooled. They flourished as forests declined around 5 million years ago, & again following the Pleistocene ice ages. They now cover ~40% land, feeding countless animals & underpinning human agriculture #BurnsNight2021

Unlike tatties & neeps, barley is a monocot angiosperm. This means (among many things) that it has a single embryonic leaf when it sprouts, rather than two (see both in gif). Molecular clock estimates suggest they diverged from dicots ~130 million years ago. #BurnsNight2021

Finally, the haggis. Its taxonomy is uncertain, but it's a mammal. Some suggest it's related to the tenrec, (they're endemic to Madagascar, so this is biogeographically unlikely) or even platypus, but the mountain hare (Lepus timidus) is a more likely relative. #BurnsNight2021

The haggis is unique among vertebrates for having two legs shorter on one side than the other. There are two species, Haggis sinistra (left legs shorter), & H. ius (right legs shorter). This adaptation for running around hillsides, can cause fatal collisions. #BurnsNight2021

So, your #BurnsNight2021 supper is at least 130 million years in the making! When you raise a toast to the great Rabbie Burns, remember your dinner wouldn't have been possible without the evolution of flowering plants, & conservation efforts to protect the great #haggis herds!