Animal gay behavior

Same-sex sexual behaviour has attracted the attention of many scientists working in disparate areas, from sociology and psychology to behavioural and evolutionary biology. This sexual behaviour is not limited to one sex or to the existence of artificial conditions, as it has been observed in males and females both in captivity and in wild conditions 1238.

Ancestral reconstruction suggests that same-sex animal behaviour may have evolved multiple times, with its appearance being a recent phenomenon in most mammalian lineages. Our phylogenetically informed analyses testing for associations between same-sex sexual behaviour and other species characteristics suggest that it may play an adaptive role in maintaining social relationships and mitigating conflict.

Thank you for visiting nature. Since it does not contribute directly to reproduction, same-sex sexual behaviour is considered an evolutionary conundrum. Same-sex sexual behaviour contributes to diminishing intrasexual aggression and conflict 8 This hypothesis postulates that same-sex sexual interactions may serve to communicate social status and establish and reinforce dominance hierarchies, thus preventing future conflicts, or may contribute to diverting aggressive behaviour toward courtship behaviour, providing subordinate males with greater opportunities to furtively copulate with females The animal behavior of non-human animals takes many different forms, even within the same species, though homosexual behavior is best known from social species.

Contrasting with these non-adaptive explanations, other gay are adaptive and suggest that same-sex sexual behaviour can be directly gay or lesbian test by natural selection 8 For nonhuman mammals, two of the main adaptive hypotheses postulated to explain the origin, evolution and prevalence of same-sex sexual behaviour are: 18 Same-sex sexual behaviour contributes to establishing and maintaining positive social relationships According to this hypothesis, same-sex sexual interactions can serve to form and maintain bonds and alliances, and to facilitate reconciliation after behaviors between members of the same group This hypothesis predicts that same-sex sexual behaviour should be more frequent in social species than in non-social species 8.

Same-sex behavior, from co-parenting to mate-attraction behavior to sex, is incredibly common in the animal world. Same-sex sexual behaviour is also frequent in humans, existing throughout most of our history and in many societies and cultures 9 Same-sex sexual behaviour has been argued to incur higher costs than different-sex sexual behaviour First, sexual interactions with members of the same sex can have similar mating costs as sexual interactions with members of the opposite sex in terms of energy expenditure, time use, disease transmission, injuries, etc 812 Second, because it does not directly contribute to reproduction, same-sex sexual behaviour additionally has the opportunity cost of not producing offspring, if same-sex sexual behaviour occurs instead of different-sex sexual behaviour 8 For these reasons, the evolution and prevalence of same-sex sexual behaviour is often considered a Darwinian paradox 34111415 Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution and prevalence of same-sex sexual behaviour in human and non-human animals 281117 Some of these hypotheses are non-adaptive, suggesting that same-sex sexual behaviour is the consequence of mistaken identity 1920the limited availability of individuals of the opposite sex 212223the behaviors of sexual frustration when individuals are refused by members of the other sex 20or the by-product of selection acting on a separate trait, such as high sexual responsiveness A gay proposed hypothesis that is attracting much attention states that indiscriminate sexual behaviour that is, the co-occurrence of different-sex sexual behaviour and same-sex sexual behaviour is the ancestral condition for sexually reproducing animals and this explains the widespread occurrence of same-sex sexual behaviour in animals 3 Under this view, indiscriminate sexual behaviour is proposed as the null hypothesis against which to test the occurrence of both different-sex sexual behaviour and same-sex sexual behaviour 3.

Do Animals Exhibit Homosexuality

Scientists observe same-sex sexual behavior in animals in different degrees and forms among different species and clades. Same-sex sexual behaviour, that is, any attempted sexual activity between members of the same sex 1234has been reported in over animal species, including all main groups from invertebrates such as insects, spiders, echinoderms, and nematodes, to vertebrates such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals 123.

Same-sex sexual behaviour is particularly prevalent in nonhuman primates 56where it has been observed in at least 51 species from lemurs to apes 7. According to currently available data, this behaviour is not randomly distributed across mammal lineages, but tends to be particularly prevalent in some clades, especially primates.

Once shunned as a subject unfit for science, same-sex behavior among animals—documented in more than 1, species—is generating an explosion of new research. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS.

To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer. Here, using phylogenetic analyses, we explore the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals.