Descending from the trees to eat rotting fruit drove apes to evolve alcohol tolerance

Evidence

In mammals, the alcohol from rotting fruit and other sources is broken down by enzymes produced by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes and eventually processed into energy and metabolites in the liver. However, if the rate of inflow of alcohol (ethanol) into the liver is too high, then it “overflows,” going into the heart and then spreading throughout the body. Intoxication ensues. Most primates aren’t particularly good at processing alcohol. However, about 10 million years ago, when our common ancestor with gorillas came down from the trees to spend more time on the ground, rotting fruit probably became a more important food source, so our ape lineage evolved a higher tolerance for consuming alcohol. 4 This ancient adaptation appears to have set the stage for much more recent culture-gene coevolution, as humans have experienced a great deal of evolutionary action on various alcohol-processing genes since the origins of agriculture. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 285

Categorization

• CANDY: The gorilla-to-ground-fruit origin of human alcohol tolerance is a clean dinner-party fact.
• XREF: connects to: Norms disciplined by communal punishment drove genetic evolution toward human docility. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 49; Food plants and humans shape each other’s evolution toward mutual thriving — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 431; Fruit dispersal mutualism can be read as gift exchange without denying evolution — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 109 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Evolutionary psychology explains present psychological processes as adaptations to ancestral environmental problems. #exemplifies (0.85) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 489
• Ancient diets included substances hard for us to digest, requiring adaptation. #expands (0.78) — Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 100 Objects, 167
• Food plants and humans shape each other’s evolution toward mutual thriving #expands (0.75) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 431
• Norms disciplined by communal punishment drove genetic evolution toward human docility. #corroborates (0.72) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 49
• Fruit dispersal mutualism can be read as gift exchange without denying evolution #qualifies (0.72) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 109