Allure of fermented fruit among monkeys could explain human liking for alcohol!
A close look at monkeys from whom humankind has evolved suggests that the love of people for alcohol stems from the liking these primates have for fruits which are ripe, states sciencealert.com report.
Scientists discovered during their study of Panama’s black-handed spider monkeys or Ateles geoffroyi that they eat on a regular basis palm fruits that have ethanol in little amounts. Further, the samples of urine from two monkeys showed metabolites that were ethanol specific, thus proving that it was being absorbed and used by the body.
Talking about this, Christina Campbell from California State University, Northridge, who is a primatologist said: "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. This is just one study, and more need to be done, but it looks like there may be some truth to that 'drunken monkey' hypothesis."
Proposed for the first time in 2000 by Robert Dudley, a UC Berkeley biologist the drunken monkey hypothesis stated that monkeys exhibited a powerful allure for the aroma and taste of ethanol which worked out advantageous for them from evolutionary perspective as it enabled them reach and eat ripe fruits which were full of energy much before others could.
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