Genetic Evidence and the Origin of Maize

Abstract

The origin of maize has been a topic of interest to both biologists and archaeologists. During the twentieth century, the view point that maize is a domesticated form of teosinte received convincing support from biological data and is now broadly accepted among biologists familiar with the issues and data. There is no support of any kind for an alternative view that maize is a hybrid of the grassesZea diploperennisandTripsacum.