What’s new: Humans know a thing or two about drinking alcohol, but accounts of animals turning to booze have often been discounted as accidental, unnatural or rare. Researchers now argue in a new study that animals drinking alcohol, or more specifically ethanol, might be more commonplace in the natural world than previously thought. “We’re moving […]

Researchers now argue in a new study that animals drinking alcohol, or more specifically ethanol, might be more commonplace in the natural world than previously thought.

In nature, plants don’t produce ethanol directly. Instead, it’s made primarily by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiaeas it ferments sugars. Evidence suggests that yeast began making ethanol 100 million years ago, when flowering plants first started producing sugar-rich fruits. Today, ethanol-laden fruits can be detected in nearly every terrestrial ecosystem, the researchers say. Concentrations of ethanol in naturally fermented fruits can be as low as 1-2% alcohol by volume (ABV), and as high as 10.2% ABV in some overripe palm fruits.