The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week Drunk Monkeys, Heroic Rats, Forehead Teeth
Oct 8, 2025
Carly York, an animal physiologist and author of *The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog*, takes center stage to unveil remarkable stories about heroic rats. Discover how African giant pouched rats are trained to detect landmines and even screen for tuberculosis, greatly aiding healthcare in Africa. Also, delve into the intriguing concept of drunk monkeys, learning about their affinity for fermented fruits, and explore the bizarre adaptations of ratfish and their unique mating teeth. It's a wild ride through the animal kingdom!
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Wild Fruit Regularly Contains Alcohol
- Fermenting fruit naturally produces low concentrations of alcohol that many frugivores routinely encounter.
- This likely shaped evolutionary traits like alcohol-metabolizing enzymes across primates.
The 'Drunken Monkey' Evolutionary Idea
- The 'drunken monkey' hypothesis suggests alcohol cues and rewards helped fruit-eating primates locate calorie-rich food.
- Preferentially choosing fermented fruit could have influenced primate foraging and social behavior over evolutionary time.
Chimps Consume Measurable Ethanol Daily
- Wild chimpanzees consume the equivalent of roughly one alcoholic drink per day by metabolized ethanol from fermented fruits.
- They also show preference for higher-alcohol fruits, implying selective foraging based on ethanol content.
