Gay sex in the wild
What’s With All the Gay Penguins?
Over and over again, zoos and aquariums around the world are making headlines for their same-sex penguin couplings. One of the most iconic couples was Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins who began carrying out mating rituals at the Central Park Zoo in 1998. After successfully incubating a rock and then a dummy egg, zookeepers decided to give the loving couple a real, fertilized egg. Roy and Silo hatched a child, a female penguin named Tango. Tango then grew up to form a partnership with another female penguin named Tanuzi.
The list of gay penguin couples goes on and on and spans a wide range of species. Harry and Pepper were a pair of Magellenic penguins at the San Francisco Zoo. Sphen and Magic are a pair of male Gentoo penguins at SEA LIFE Aquarium in Sydney who hatched their first chick in 2018. Electra and Viola, also Gentoo penguins, are raising a chick at the L’Oceanogràfic in Valencia, Spain. At Zoo Berlin, two King penguins named Skipper and Ping possess been trying to become fathers, unfortunately with no luck. Ronnie and Reggie are a pair of Humboldt penguins in London. In the Netherlands, a gay African penguin couple r
Why insects have gay sex: Lots of times, it's accidental
Insect sex may seem fairly simple: fluttering dances, clasping abdomens, a hasty mount on a forest floor. But a new review of homosexual insect encounters suggests the acts may not be that straightforward for the individuals involved.
Researchers have widely examined homosexual conduct in mammals and birds, but have addressed it less frequently in insects and spiders. To assess the range of evolutionary explanations for same-sex intercourse in the invertebrate world, a team of biologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland examined roughly 100 existing studies on the topic and compiled the first comprehensive review of homosexuality in invertebrates. The review was published earlier this month in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
The team focused on male-male interactions to simplify the analysis, and found that most of these encounters occurred as accidents. Whereas larger animals have developed more complicated homosexual motivations — appreciate maintaining alliances, which has been found in certain primate and seagull species — insec
Scientists explore the evolution of animal homosexuality
Imperial researchers are using a new approach to understand why same-sex behaviour is so common across the animal kingdom.
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In 1910, a team of scientists set off on the Terra Nova Expedition to explore Antarctica. Among them was George Murray Levick, a zoologist and photographer who would be the first researcher to study the world's largest Adélie penguin colony. He chronicled the animals' daily activities in great detail.
In his notebooks, he described their sexual behaviour, including sex between male birds. However, none of these notes would show in Levick's published papers. Concerned by the graphic content, he only printed 100 copies of Sexual Habits of the Adélie Penguin to circulate privately. The last remaining copy was recently unearthed providing valuable insights into animal homosexuality research.
But forays into animal homosexuality research long predate Levick, with observations published as far back as the 1700s and 1800s. More than 200 years later, study has moved past some of the taboos those e
Gay Animals: Alternate Lifestyles in the Wild
Plenty O' Partners
Homosexuality has been documented in more than 450 species of vertebrates signaling that sexual preference is biologically determined in animals. From Male bonobos that hold from trees and hire in "penis fencing" to bull manatees and bottlenose dolphins, the animal kingdom tolerates all kinds of lifestyles.
Bonobos
Homosexuality has been documented in almost 500 species of animals, signaling that sexual preference is predetermined. Considered the closest living relative to humans, bonobos are not shy about seeking sexual pleasure. Nearly all of these peace-loving apes are bisexual and often resolve conflict by the "make love, not war" principle. They copulate frequently, scream out in delight while doing so, and often engage in homosexual activities. About two thirds of the lesbian activities are amongst females.
Macaques
Female macaques form intense bonds with each other and are serially monogamous, sense they only have one sexual partner at a time. However, they acquire several of these relationships during each breeding season. Female macaques engage in sexual activities such as genital stimulati