Primates like to get drunk, study suggests

Want to party with a primate? New research suggests they'd be down.

According to a report in this week's Royal Society Open Science, two types of primates enjoy drinking strong alcohol.

Researchers recruited three primates – one slow loris and two aye-ayes – and gave them cups of sugar water with varying degrees of alcohol content.

When the aye-ayes finished the stronger drinks, they'd continue to try to lap up the dregs; scientists say this suggests a "strong attraction" to the hooch. Further, the primates could tell the higher proof from the weaker, even when the variations were subtle, study co-author Nathaniel Dominy of Dartmouth College told USA Today.

The slow loris and the aye-aye, which are native to southeast Asia and Madagascar, respectively, are both known to drink nectar, which can ferment into alcohol. This could explain why they may also enjoy a vodka on the rocks, researchers say.