A ratlike animal that spends his life drinking
July 30, 2008
That’s right, scientists just found an animal that spends his whole life consuming alcohol. That animal is a pen-tailed tree shrew (Ptilocercus lowii) which is a small ratlike animal that inhabits the jungles of Southeast Asia.
The pen-tailed tree shrew feeds on nectar of an ever flowering plant, the bertam palm, which is also the primary food source for many other animals as well. Yeast cells in the palm’s flowers ferment its nectar, which can contain up to 3.8% alcohol. Comparing all living plants that produce alcohol this one is the one that has the highest concentrations of alcohol.
Despite researchers not finding any inebriation effects the reality is that the tree shrews meet or surpass the legal intoxication limit of 1.4 grams of alcohol per kilogram of body mass every 3 days. Just for you to get an idea the 1.4 grams of alcohol per kilogram of body mass in human terms is the equivalent to an average woman drinking nine glasses of wine or beer in a 12-hour period.
Filed under: Uncategorized, animals, nature, science |
He’s adorable! Figures, I like all the funny creatures that you can’t have as a pet :-p
Shouldn’t that be milligrams per kilogram?
Wonder what the critter looks like from the front?
being irish, i think im related to that little guy. well hes the image of my brother anyway. ive never backed down from a challenge, bet i could out-drink him he he
I wonder how he manages to drive home after lunch…with all that booze stored up in him.
I thought for sure I would see a picture of my uncle.
Imagine this lil guys piss, it must be basically pure alcohol… more content then beer most likely.
Anyways where can I get one, I need a good beer pong partner that doesn’t mind drinking his share.
@ Irish guy
sure, you could outdrink him at his size, but i bet you couldn’t outdrink it if it were human size and mass?
It explains frat boys
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Thanks for such an informative post.
Screw the shrew, I want that bertam palm! It’s a freaking BEER TREE, how could you not want one?