Ever wondered where our love for booze actually comes from? It might just be in our DNA—thanks to our primate cousins! A brand-new study found that wild chimpanzees in Africa are basically sipping fermenting fruit every day, taking in the alcohol equivalent of a pint of beer 🍻🐒.
Scientists gathered fruit samples that chimps gobble up, from overripe figs to winery-worthy berries, and measured their ethanol content—the natural booze produced when sugar ferments. Shockingly, these apes drink around 14 grams of alcohol daily. That’s like finishing a beer before breakfast!
This research brings the "drunken monkey" theory into the spotlight. First proposed by U.S. biologist Robert Dudley, this idea suggests our ancestors tuned their taste buds to fermented fruits—think juicy mangoes, rambutan, or durian left to ripen in the sun—and evolved the enzymes to break down booze. In other words, our evolutionary hangover began long before humans started brewing 🍌➡️🍺.
"It’s not just a sip here and there," says lead author Aleksey Maro. "These doses are physiologically relevant and routine." Imagine chimps in the rainforests of Borneo or the jungles of the Congo stumbling on naturally fermented fruit after a rainy season.
Of course, this study raises new puzzles. Do chimps actively seek out the most fermented fruits, or do they just eat what’s available? And what might be the long-term impacts of this low-key booze habit on their health and social vibes? Future research will need to peel back these layers.
For us, that’s a cool reminder that many of our habits—yes, even kicking back with a cold one—could trace back millions of years. Next time you grab a beer or fermented snack, give a nod to your wild ancestors and the science that connects us all 🥂🔬.
Reference(s):
Wild chimps eating fermenting fruit get a surprising slug of alcohol
cgtn.com
