Countless animals, plants, and microorganisms crossed the Atlantic Ocean with European explorers and colonists in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. This chart lists some of the organisms that had the greatest impact on human society worldwide.

Organism

Old World New World

New World Old World

Domestic animals

  • horses
  • cattle
  • pigs
  • sheep
  • goats
  • chickens
  • turkeys
  • llamas
  • alpacas
  • guinea pigs

Crops

  • rice
  • wheat
  • barley
  • oats
  • coffee
  • sugar cane
  • citrus fruits
  • bananas
  • melons
  • Kentucky bluegrass
  • maize (corn)
  • potatoes
  • sweet potatoes
  • cassava
  • peanuts
  • tobacco
  • squash
  • peppers
  • tomatoes
  • pumpkins
  • cacao (the source of chocolate)
  • sunflowers
  • pineapples
  • avocados
  • vanilla

Diseases

  • syphilis (possibly)