Alcohol turned a monkey into a man

Scientists: alcohol tolerance could be the key to the survival of mankind

Ilya Vedmedenko, Naked Science

Experts from the University of Exeter in the UK believe that the influence of alcohol on the evolution of modern people is underestimated. Moreover, according to scientists, it was the assimilation of the latter that could save from extinction creatures that lived millions of years ago and evolved into what we now know as Homo sapiens. The corresponding press release is available on the university's website.

About ten million years ago, our African ape-like ancestors ate fruits that had fallen to the ground, many of which could cause severe poisoning due to ethyl alcohol. It is the ability to absorb substantial doses of the latter that could become the decisive evolutionary advantage of some primate groups over others.

"Even today we see large monkeys that eat fermented fruits and even drink palm wine produced by humans," says Dr. Kim Hockings, one of the authors of the study. "It's hard to be sure why they do it, and it reflects the complex history of our own relationship with alcohol."

It is worth noting that, according to modern ideas, the separation of the ancestors of chimpanzees and humans occurred about five to eight million years ago. So, probably, the mechanism of alcohol assimilation has a very long history.

At the same time, tolerance to alcohol, of course, is far from the only factor of survival. After all, in addition to overripe fruits that fell to the ground, human ancestors had to eat unripe fruits, which was also a kind of "strength test".

However, scientists go further and consider the complex influence of alcohol on all periods of our species' existence. "Alcohol is increasingly seen as a medical problem, but its abuse is only a small part of the broader social pattern of alcohol consumption by people," Kim Hawkins and anthropologist Robin Dunbar write in their book "Humans and alcohol: a long and social affair."

"Alcohol played an important role in how people used collaborative activities to create and maintain their relationships," notes Professor Dunbar.

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