Posted on 04/04/2022 12:58:50 PM PDT by Red Badger
Research into the way humans came to enjoy alcohol in the manner that we do is an interesting area of evolutionary science, with some suggesting its roots can be traced back millions of years. One school of thought is that apes and monkeys were lured toward fermenting fruit due to its high nutritional value, and new analysis of urine samples of these so-called "drunken monkeys" offers first-of-a-kind evidence that they actually metabolize the ethanol within it.
The discovery stems from the long-running work of biologist Robert Dudley, who has been pondering the relationship between humans and alcohol for more than two decades. In his 2014 book titled The Drunken Monkey: Why We Drink and Abuse Alcohol, Dudley puts together an argument that humans inherited their penchant for alcohol from primates, pointing to research showing some fermented fruit they eat has naturally high alcohol content, at times as high as seven percent.
What was missing was data demonstrating that monkeys or apes prioritized these fruits over others, and that they actually metabolized the alcohol inside it. Now Dudley and fellow biology researchers at the University of California Berkeley and California State University have delved deeper into the "drunken monkey" hypothesis, turning to black-handed spider monkeys in Panama for answers.
For the first time, we have been able to show, without a shadow of a doubt, that wild primates, with no human interference, consume fruit-containing ethanol The scientists collected fermented fruit eaten and discarded by these monkeys and found it typically carried an alcohol concentration of between 1 and 2 percent. They took things a step further and collected urine samples from the wild monkeys which revealed the presence of metabolites from digested alcohol, demonstrating that they were actually using it for energy.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
I think you have to anger them, then stand just close enough with an open wide-mouth container...:)
That was my first thought as well. They are certainly smart enough to enjoy it...:)
Unlike some humans!
Alcohol-producing gut bacteria could cause liver damage even in people who don't drink
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190919142336.htm
Hahahaha love it!! Thanks for that link...:)
LOL!
“Show me the way to go home,
I’m tired and I want to go to bed...”
Baboon (?) with the hangover is hilarious.
And an elephant with a hangover is a very unhappy animal.
It is unlikely the monkeys feel the effects of the alcohol, according to the scientists. The thinking is that they would seek out the fermented fruit for its higher concentration of calories, which equates to more energy.
I sure they eat the fruit just for the calories, sure.
I bet they read MonkeyBoy for the articles too!
“They have a high alcohol tolerance, but do get drunk sometimes.”
When we would cut silage for the bunker storage we would drag a blade across to keep the level uniform and pack the silage. Between the weight of the tractor and the weight of the corn we would have a trickle of corn juice. After about a week of sitting in the bunker cooking that corn juice was potent.
In the mornings there would be birds, deer, squirrels and rabbits all too snookered on those corn squezings to walk. It was funny as all get out watching those critters.
LOL!
I have seen squirrels and birds drunk on fermented scuppernongs.
It’s not just monkies and birds but elephants as well. The seek out marula trees containing fermenting fruit. Giving drunken elephants a wide pass is smart.
Wait til those monkeys get a taste of Colt 45
I had a little rescued bird many years ago who had some issues. I thought it might fortify her if I gave her a tiny spoon of wine in a tiny dish now and then.
Birds run so ‘hot’, it wasn’t enough to get her drunk. But she definitely liked it - and it wasn’t even sweet. I should have gotten her some Manischewitz...
Just because a chemical is metabolized doesn’t mean it is supplying energy yo the consumer. Just about all drugs are metabolized in one way or another. Ethanol does supply energy to humans for sure. It was used intravenously rarely to counter methanol toxicity or decrease side effects of ethanol withdrawal, or even as a supplier of calories. Other animals have been known to eat fermented fruit..so the drunken monkey connection seems to be a “cherry picked” hypothesis. The better question to ask is, how did mankind learn to find, reproduce, distill ethanol from fruit in such amounts that it is a source of great toxicity to ourselves?
The field study could have been done in any college bar.
Stacey Abrams is living proof of this theory/observation.
“Collected urine samples from the wild monkeys”
I heard Jen Psaki was getting a new job.
I’ve seen people so drunk they were no different than monkeys or apes 🤪
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