In the rainforests of South-East Asia, there is a tree shrew that can binge without getting drunk. The flowers of the bertam palm, for instance, produce a nectar that can be as alcoholic as beer and attracts a wide range of insects and tree-climbing mammals.
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Most of them suffer from the effects of the alcohol - but not the pen-tailed tree shrew, though researchers analysed its hairs and found clear evidence of chronic alcohol intake.
It is not yet known how the species copes with its bingeing, but the enzymes in its body that break down alcohol may operate with exceptional efficiency.
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Yop image: Joseph Wolf (1820 – 1899), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
