Scientists: Humanity owes its existence to alcohol

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Scientists: Humanity owes its existence to alcohol

Monkeys were initially unable to process small amounts of alcohol
The development of alcohol tolerance has proved to be a key factor in the survival of human ancestors millions of years ago, according to a new book, BTA reports.

Finding food has always been a difficult task, Prof. Robin Dunbar of Oxford University and Dr. Kim Hawking of Exeter University write in their work.

But the monkeys were initially unable to process the small amounts of alcohol contained in the fruit that had fallen from the trees. But only one branch of them acquired this ability and later evolved into modern man.

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The ethanol in these foods gave them extra calories and helped them survive. Dunbar and Hawkings argue in this thesis, "Humanity and Alcohol: A Long and Social Link."

Traces of this attachment are also seen in modern apes, who also like to eat fermented fruits and drink palm wine when offered to humans.

The authors of the book recall that alcohol in fermented fruits is about 1-4 percent, which is equivalent to low beer.

The first monkeys to metabolize such food lived through the Miocene. They probably looked like today's gorillas and chimpanzees.