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Babies don't like to touch plants, according to a new study. Researchers believe this reluctance evolved to help protect them from dangers like toxins or thorns.

Researchers from Yale University found that babies show a striking reluctance to touch plants. They found that infants took on average five seconds longer to reach out and touch plants than other objects put in front of them.

Psychologists Annie Wertz and Karen Wynn believe that this reluctance is a default strategy that can be overturned with information from other people that a particular plant is safe to eat or use for some purpose.

"When you think of humans in their historically natural environment, plants were a huge part of their lives," Wertz said.

Researchers said that this response evolved to help guard humans against dangers throughout our evolutionary past.

The findings are published in the journal Cognition.