Facebook<\/p>\n
Tweet<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n Chimpanzees<\/a> may consume the equivalent of about one alcoholic drink per day due to the ethanol contained within the fruit they eat, according to a new study.\n <\/p>\n \n Understanding this behavior of our closest living relatives could help explain humans\u2019 consumption of alcohol, the report authors suggest.\n <\/p>\n \n Research indicating that chimpanzees also consume alcohol has long circulated around the scientific community, but this study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances<\/a>, is the first attempt to quantify precisely how much they consume.\n <\/p>\n \n After observing two groups of chimpanzees, one in Ivory Coast and one in Uganda, and sampling the fruit they ate, the team of researchers estimated that the animals consumed approximately 14 grams (0.5 ounces) of ethanol a day.\n <\/p>\n \n That amount is equivalent to about 1.4 alcoholic drinks or, once adjusted for the smaller weight of the chimpanzees, it\u2019s the equivalent of a human consuming 2.6 alcoholic drinks a day.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe chimps are eating 5 to 10% of their body weight a day in ripe fruit, so even low concentrations yield \u2026 a substantial dosage of alcohol,\u201d said senior study author Robert Dudley, a professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, in a news release.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf the chimps are randomly sampling ripe fruit as did Aleksey (Maro, lead study author), then that\u2019s going to be their average consumption rate, independent of any preference for ethanol. But if they are preferring riper and\/or more sugar-rich fruits, then this is a conservative lower limit for the likely rate of ethanol ingestion.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Dudley is known for coining the \u201cdrunken monkey\u201d hypothesis<\/a>, which he said posits that our own predilection for alcohol is linked to humans\u2019 \u201cancient tendencies as primates to seek out and consume ripe, sugar-rich and alcohol-containing fruits.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The researchers of the new study, based at both American and Ivorian universities, sampled ripe fruit pulp from 20 species in both Uganda and Ivory Coast, using three different methods to ascertain the alcohol content.\n <\/p>\n \n The study team found that the fruit contained an average of 0.31% to 0.32% of ethanol and that the chimpanzees typically ate around 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) of fruit per day, meaning they consumed around 14 grams (0.5 ounces) of ethanol daily.\n <\/p>\n \n The scientists also observed that the most commonly eaten fruits at each study site \u2014 a type of fig in Uganda and a plumlike fruit in the Ivory Coast \u2014 had the highest alcohol content, indicating they are typically riper with more sugars to ferment.\n <\/p>\n \n The chimpanzees are \u201cunlikely\u201d to get drunk from consuming alcohol in this way, since they eat fruit \u201cover the course of their day,\u201d said conservation scientist Kimberley Hockings, an associate professor at the UK\u2019s University of Exeter who was not involved in this study but has conducted research within this field.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe data reinforce that ethanol is not an absolute deterrent to chimpanzee feeding, but we cannot say whether ethanol is an attractant or not,\u201d she told CNN via email.\n <\/p>\n \n Dudley\u2019s hypothesis was initially met with skepticism, but more and more evidence has emerged to support it as primatologists, including in this study, have observed monkeys and apes eating fermented fruit.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe consumption of ethanol is not limited to primates,\u201d Dudley said, adding that the compound\u2019s smell may help animals find food that contains more sugar. \u201cIt\u2019s more characteristic of all fruit-eating animals and, in some cases, nectar-feeding animals,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt just points to the need for additional federal funding for research into alcohol attraction and abuse<\/a> by modern humans. It likely has a deep evolutionary background,\u201d Dudley added.\n <\/p>\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n