This appears to be the custom of primate ancestors
Photo: Zataka
Human attraction to alcohol may have much older roots than we realize. A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, supports the “drunken ape hypothesis” by revealing that wild chimpanzees regularly consume astonishing amounts of ethanol in their daily diets.
Far from being a learned behavior, alcohol consumption appears to be an ancestral habit of primates. The first direct measurements on fruit in the natural habitat of chimpanzees in Africa revealed that the animals can drink the equivalent of more than two standard drinks of alcohol per day.
Alcoholic diet of primates
The study was published in the journal Advancement of science (link in first paragraph), analyzed 21 types of fruit consumed by chimpanzees at long-term research sites in Uganda and Ivory Coast. The researchers found that these fruits contain, on average, an alcohol content of 0.26% by weight.
Alexei Marrow, lead author, explains the dimensions of consumption:
“Adjusting for body mass, since a chimpanzee weighs about 40 kilograms and the average human weighs about 70 kilograms, this number rises to approximately two drinks per day.”
Because chimpanzees consume ripe, sugar-rich fruits throughout the day, even low concentrations of ethanol, a natural fermentation product, lead to large daily alcohol intakes.
Evolutionary evidence and the drunken ape hypothesis
Although chimpanzees feed constantly and do not…
See more
Related articles
The new cannabis crisis? More and more users end up in the hospital due to severe vomiting
Specific changes seen in a simple test during pregnancy may be linked to an increased incidence of autism, a study shows
Scientists have discovered a hidden change in Antarctica that is releasing carbon and warming the world
Brazilian scientists are turning cashew nuts into cheaper and more efficient solar energy
We left algae in space for nine months, exposed to vacuum and radiation, and then it came back alive, breaking records