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Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

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Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#31

Post by 8note »

morebortplates wrote: post #13

>Ethanol is far more calorie-rich and energy-rich than non-fermented sugars That's true but there should't be any benefit in terms energy density since the energy content per mass unit in fermented fruit is lower than in unfermented. Yeast uses sugar as an energy source to grow and it converts the sugar into alcohol, CO2 and water as byproducts of its matabolism.

If you drop some mass out of the fruit in terms of CO2 and water, the remaining fruit can be more energy dense.

The total mass of the fruit is different

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#32

Post by papito »

skavi wrote: post #2

> Monkeys usually only take one bite of a fruit before throwing the rest to the forest floor Does anyone know why they do this?

Brown bears in Alaska scoop up the salmon roe and throw out the rest of the fish, toward the end of Summer, when they get all plumpy and satisfied.

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#33

Post by markdown »

op00to wrote: post #11
markdown wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many tropical fruits are seasonal, and found in great abundance when in season. As the season ends, competition for that particular fruit might heat up, and they might turn to the semi-fermented leftover fruit under the tree.

Just to note, this behavior was not mentioned in the article at all.

Yup, but as I live in the tropics, I can speak confidently about this behaviour, having witnessed it, experienced it, and participated in it in my childhood years swinging through mango trees.

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#34

Post by the_only_law »

efficax wrote: post #30
the_only_law wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nicotine has to be one of the worst drugs I’ve ever done. You get an annoying addiction but there’s not really any positive effects brides maintains the status quo of not being pissed off and frustrated.

Nicotine has significant positive effects on attention and executive function, as well as wakefulness. People smoke for a reason, even if they don't really understand the effect it's having

As does caffeine, but I don’t consider it enjoyable.

I know why I started smoking and it wasn’t because I enjoyed the weak stimulant benefits, it was because of social rituals and later addiction.

My points wasn’t “nicotine has no positive effects”, but more of the negative effects (in most delivery methods) vastly outweigh the benefits.

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#35

Post by morebortplates »

kencausey wrote: post #29
cshokie wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol does have some calories of its own. I’m unsure to what degree that balances out the reduced sugar, though.

I think the point is that the fermentation is taking place in an effectively closed system, there is no calorie input. The fermented fruit cannot possibly have any more caloric content than the original fruit, it has just changed form.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better. :)

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#36

Post by tsol »

whynotkeithberg wrote: post #23
the_only_law wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nicotine has to be one of the worst drugs I’ve ever done. You get an annoying addiction but there’s not really any positive effects brides maintains the status quo of not being pissed off and frustrated.

If Nicotine is the worst you've done, then I'm going to assume you haven't done many.

Why? Nicotine has addiction rates on par with hard drugs while having only very mild benefits. It also tends to be really expensive. It won't make you homeless but it does suck

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#37

Post by postalrat »

kencausey wrote: post #29
cshokie wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol does have some calories of its own. I’m unsure to what degree that balances out the reduced sugar, though.

I think the point is that the fermentation is taking place in an effectively closed system, there is no calorie input. The fermented fruit cannot possibly have any more caloric content than the original fruit, it has just changed form.

Are you sure? Couldn't the energy be locked away in some form that can't be digested until it's fermented?

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#38

Post by arrosenberg »

morebortplates wrote: post #13

>Ethanol is far more calorie-rich and energy-rich than non-fermented sugars That's true but there should't be any benefit in terms energy density since the energy content per mass unit in fermented fruit is lower than in unfermented. Yeast uses sugar as an energy source to grow and it converts the sugar into alcohol, CO2 and water as byproducts of its matabolism.

Unless fermentation makes more of the energy accessible for the monkey. Cellulose has high energy content, but humans can’t access it without using heat, acid or microorganisms to break it into something digestible.

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#39

Post by ycombinete »

technothrasher wrote: post #26
ycombinete wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our vervet monkeys in South Africa will often do this but not always. When they steal fruit from our kitchens, they seem to take bites out of each item in their haul, then run off, sometimes with their favorite one. I'm guessing abundance is one reason, similar to how predators in a glut will eat the liver, and other high value meat before moving on to new prey.

I very much enjoyed watching the vervet monkey shenanigans when I was in South Africa. I watched a vervet monkey at a camp come down and poke around a pile of apples, seemingly sorting out which were the best ones to take. But the instant somebody came out of the kitchen, the monkey dropped all the apples, grabbed a cupcake, and ran. Another one came down off the roof to try and take some leftovers at the table I was…

That’s such a great story. Maybe he earmarked the cupcake immediately as his favourite, and started sorting through the rest in case there was something better.

Re: Monkeys Love Their Alcohol

#40

Post by op00to »

markdown wrote: post #33
op00to wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to note, this behavior was not mentioned in the article at all.

Yup, but as I live in the tropics, I can speak confidently about this behaviour, having witnessed it, experienced it, and participated in it in my childhood years swinging through mango trees.

What an awesome childhood, I hope.
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