Malaysia's pen-tailed tree-shrew waits until nightfall to binge on fermented nectar from the bertam palm.
The animal could give insights into how humans' alcohol tolerance first evolved, the scientists say.[...]
Nectar from the flower buds of the bertam palm is fermented to a maximum alcohol content of up to 3.8%.
Each bud is a miniature brewery, containing a yeast community that turns the nectar into a frothy beer-like beverage.
Yet the animals, which are about the size of a small rat, do not seem to get drunk at all, researchers say.
