This is scientific Americans 60 second science. I'm Karen Hopkins. This will just take a minute.

Chimpanzies. They're much like us, genetically, anatom atomically and as it turns out cocktail

logically because we finally have solid evidence that chimps drink alcohol.

So say researchers who've observed wild chimpanzees throwback fermented tricep.

The findings are served up in the Royal Society Journal Open Science.

Some biologists think that the reason we humans like adult beverages is because our

primate ancestors were partial to super-ripe fruits, which are high in calories and often in ethanol.

But there's one big problem with this so-called drunken monkey hypothesis,

apes had not really been seen downing alcohol in the wild, that is until now.

The researchers were studying chimps in Basu, West Africa. In this region, people tap

palm trees and allow the collected sap to ferment in small plastic containers, which

they cover with leaves to prevent contamination.

Turns out, for chimps who hanker hooch, the leaves are like the straw in a banana dacary.

The apes take the leaves, crumble them up, dip them in the sap, and then sucked them dry.

The drinkers were mostly male, shockingly, accounting for 34 of the 51 bouts of boozing observed.

And they'd consume a couple liters of the fermented brew each time they

bellyed up to the bar, I mean tree. Whether chimps are simply taking advantage of an

easily acquired calorie-rich liquid or they especially enjoy the sap's sweet flavor, or

intoxicating effects, is not known. But the questions call for another round of

research. Thanks for the minute.

For Scientific Americans 60 Second Science, I'm Karen Hopkins.