gayanimals

The selections below are from Bruce Bagemihl's site for his book, BIOLOGICAL EXUBERANCE: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity, where one can read five of the book's chapters. Below the examples of different species I have excerpted from my own book, there are some chapters from that site. If you wish to read more of the material, just click. As you'll see, some of the examples from the species index I show are pretty funny stuff. I mean after all, dumb animals are only interested in sex when they need to reproduce, right? (The site doesn't have material from the species index which has hundreds of birds and mammals detailed).

THE BONOBO CHIMPANZEE (also called PYGMY CHIMPS)

"Homosexuality is found in both males and females. Behaviors include sexual, affectionate, courtship and pair bonding. Homosexual relationships are primary and are seen both in the wild and incaptivity. (Females are generally dominant to males)

BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSION:

Bonobos have one of the most varied and extensive repertoirs of homosexual practices found in any animal. Females engage in an extraordinary form of mutual genital stimulation that, in many respects, is unique to this species. Sometimes known as GG-RUBBING (for genito-genito rubbing), this behavior is usually performed in a face-to-face embracing position (heterosexual copulation is also done in this position, but not as often as in lesban interactions). One female stands on all fours and lierally carries or lifts her partner off the ground; the female on the bottom wraps her legs around the other's waist and clings to her as they rapidly rub their genitals against one another, directly stimulating each other's clitoris.

Some scientists believe that the particular shape and location of the BONOBOS GENITALS HAVE EVOLVED SPECIFICALLY FOR LESBIAN rather than heterosexual interactions.

During GG-rubbing, each female rythmicly swings her pelvis from side to side--precisely timed so that each partner is thrusting in opposite directions---at a rate of about two thrusts per second. This is compoarable to the thrusting rate seen in males during heterosexual interactions but males thrust vertically instead of sideways. ......Same sex interactions generally last longer.

As shown by the facial expressions, vocalizations, and genital engorgement, females experience intense pleasure---and probably orgasm---during homosexual interactions. Partners gaze intensely into each other's eyes and maintain eye contact throughout the interaction. Sometimes, females grimace or "grin" by baring their teeth wide and also uttering screams or squeals that are thought to be associated with sexual climax.

In fact, females typically form strongly bonded, enduring relationships with one another that are fostered by sexual interactions and include such activities as mutual grooming, play, food-sharing, and alliance-formation (often for challenging males). Females generally prefer each other's company, and their same-sex bonds form the core of socail organization.

Male Bonobos also have a wide variety of homosexual interactions. Sometimes, two males mutually stimulate each other's genitals using a face-to-face position similar to GG-Rubbing: one male lies on his back and spreads his legs while the other thrusts on him, rubbing their erections together (in this and all other homosexual activity, anal penetration is not involved).

If there is an age difference between partners, often the younger male will be on the bottom.

Occasionally, two males hang from a branch facing each other and engage in what is known as PENIS FENCING; swinginging their hips from side to side as they rub their erect penises on each other and cross them as if they were fencing with swords.

Another activity is RUMP RUBBING, in which two males stand on all fours in opposite directions. pressing their buttocks against each other, and mutually rubbing their anal and scrotal regions. Both males often have erections......

Other sexual activities include oral sex, or fellatio, in which one male sucks another's penis at the initiation of either partner (usually seen only in younger males). manual stimulation of the genitals by a partner also occurs: typically an adolescent mae spreads his legs and presents his erect penis to an adult male, who takes the shaft in his hand and caresses it with up-and-down movements. Younger males (and occasionally females) also sometimes give each other openmouthed kisses, often with extensive mutual tongue stimulation. Although males do not appear to form pairlike bonds with sexual partners as do females, occasionally 2 or 3 males are intimately associated as companions, constantly accompanying each other and foraging to gether

FREQUENCY Homosexual activity is nearly as common as heterosexual activities in Bonobos, accounting for 40%-50% of all sexual interactions; 2/3 to 3/4 of this same-sex activity is between females (mostly GG-rubbing). Daily life among Bonobos is characterized by numerous relatively brief episodes of sexual activity scattered throughout the day, and homosexual interactions are frequent. Each female participates in GG-rubbing on average once every two hours or so, and some newcomers to a troop do so even more often, on an hourly basis.

ORIENTATION

Virtually all Bonobos are bisexal, interacting sexually with both males and females. ..........Nevertheless, it appears that---among some females a least---homosexual activity is preferred. Although females vary amoung a continuum with 1/3 to 90% of their interactions being with partners of the same sex, overall there is a predominance of homosexual activity. An average of 2/3 of all sexual interactions among females are with other females....... ............In addition, females have sometimes been observed consistently ignoring males who are soliciting them for sex, preferring instead to GG-rub with each other.

THE COMMON CHIMPANZEE

Social Organization

Common Chimpanzees live in groups or communities of 40-60 individuals, usually with twice as many adult females as males. Within each group, smaller subgroups often form, and some individuals form longer lasting bonds with each other as part of a complex networkof social and commnicative interactions. The mat9ing system is promiscuous or polygamous: males and females each mate with multiple partners, and males do not generally particpate in raising their own offspring.

Description

Behavioral Expression: Female Common Chimpanzees participate in a variety of same-sex activities. One form of mutual genital stimulation is sometimes known as BUMPRUMP: two females, standing on all fours and facing opposite directions, rub their rumps together (usually in an up-and-down motion), stimulating their genital and anal regions. Sometimes one female lies on top of the other in a face-to-face position - or two sit facing one another - rubbing their genitals together. Mounting also occurs... ...Occasionally female Chimps also engage in cunnilingus: one individual presents her buttocks by crouching in front of the other, who stimulates her external genitalia with her lips and tongue.

Amomg males, several different kinds of same-sex interactions occur. Manual contact or stimulation of a partner's genitals, for example, can involve fondling, rubbing, or gripping of the penis and/or touching of the scrotum, sometimes while the partner makes pelvic thrusts that "bounce" his genitals in his partner's hand. Chimps occasionally also engage in fellatio, mutual penis rubbing while sitting face-to-face, mounting in a front to back position (sometimes with pelvic thrusts or body shaking), and even insertion of a finger into the partner's anus and oral-anal "grooming". A number of these activities - notably genital touchng, mounting and anal contact - occur as ritualized sexual gestures in the context of greeting, enlisting of support, reconciliation, and/or reassurance. They are often combined with affectionate gestures such as embracing, kissing (including openmouthed contact), grooming, and genital kissing or nuzzling. Males who participate in such activities may be bonded together in a mutually suppotive "friendship" or COALITION. Occasionally male Chimpanzees also interact sexually with male Savanna Baboons in the wild.

Transgendered or intersexual Common Chimpanzees occasionally occur as well. One individual who was physically and anatomically a male was chromosomally a mosaic, combining both the male (XY) and the female (XX) chromosome types.

Frequency:

The prevalence of same-sex activities between male Common Chimpanzees is highly variable. Mounting between males constitutes anywhere from 1-2% to one-third or one-half of the behaviors involved in reassurance, enlistment of support, and other activities during or following conflicts. Kissing and embrqacing between males constitute from 12-30% (depending on the population). Overall, 29-33% of all mounting activity occur between males. Less detialed information is available for females, but a similar range of frequencies is probably involved.

Orientation:

Most adult male Chimpanzees that participate in same-sex mounting, genital handling, or other activities also mate with females. Younger males, who occasionally engage in such activities as fellatio or mutual genital rubbing, may be less heterosexually involved. In some populations, virtually all adult males participate in same-sex mounting, although such behavior may constitute anywhere from one-fifth to three-quarters of an individual's mounting activity. Females that poarticipate in same-sex activities are also usually functionally bisexual, copulating with males as well. However, a few individuals appear to be more exclusively homosexual: one female, for example, refused to mate with males, and was only involved sexually with other females for many years.

GORILLAS

Homosexuality is found in both males and females. The Behaviours include: Courtship, Pair-bonding, affectionate and sexual. Homosexual realtionships are common and they have been observed in the wild and in captivity.

Social Organization:

Gorillas live in small groups of 8 to 15 individuals. usually consisting of 3 to 6 adult females, 1 mature male, 1 or 2 juvenile males and 5 to 7 immature offspring. All-Male groups also regularly occur. The mating system is polygynous. Te females are usually not related to each other, since they generally leave their family group once reaching adulthood.

Behavioural expression:

FEMALES

Within her group, the female Gorilla sometimes forms an intense pairlike friendship with another female, spending as much time with her as with the breeding male of the group. her interactions with this "favorite" female consist of constant touching while they spend time together, siting with each other or lying against one another, and frequent grooming.

Female Gorillas also frequently have sex with other females in the group. In a typical lesbian interction, one female appraoches another directly, often making copulatory vocalizations, after which they may sit quietly together for a while. Often they will begin to fondle each other's geitals or bring their face into intimate contact with the other's vulva, touching with their mouths. This is usually followed by embracing in a face to face position (usually lying down) with rubbing of the genitals against each other, sometimes accompanied by growling, grunting, screaming, or pulsing whimpers. The animals may also pause during periods of pelvic thrusting to caress each other, shift their positions, or masturbate themselves.

Lesbian sexual activity is notable for its differences from heterosexual copulation, probably related to an emphasis of acheiving mutual pleasure. First of all. the more intimate face-to-face position is rarelyused between males and females, who instead mate with the male mounting from behind (and often with the male thrusting and vocalizing significantly less than his partner). Sexual interactions between females are also generally more affectionate, involving much more embracing and grooming, and they usually last longer. One study revealed that sexual interactions between females last on average 5 times longer than heterosexual ones, and that lesbian activity involves considerably more thrusting and genital stimulation.

Female Gorillas also exhibit clear preferences for particular sexual partners within their group. Although lesbian activity generally occurs among all members of a group, each female usually has a favorite partner with whom she interacts more often.

Homosexuality is also integrated into the general reproductive cycle of the group: breeding females (including mothers) have sex with other females as much as non-breeding females, and lesbian sex is common even during pregnancy........

MALES

Although male Gorillas sometimes mount each other in cosexual groups, homosexuality occurs mostly in all-male groups, where probably more than 90% of all same-sex activity between males takes place.

Such groups result when females leave their home group to join another, or when males occasionally leave their own group upon reaching maturity and band together. All-male groups persist for many years and have a complex network of homosexual pairings. Each male has preferred partners whom he courts and has sex with; some interact with only one male in the group, while others have multiple partners.

There is often intense competition among the males for "preferred" partners; often the youger and older, high rankig males frequently guard their favorite males and fight to protect them from advances of other males. Nevertheless, rates of aggression are significantly lower than in cosexual groups, and some male groups exhibit a high degree of cohesiveness attributable to the sexual bonding and mediating activities of the group. When one male Gorilla is courting another, he appraoches while making intense panting sounds; sometimes contact is initiated with one or both males reaching out to touch each other, or one may make a more subtle soliciting approach.

Sexual activity involves one male mounting another and thrusting, in either the face-to-face or front-to-back position; both males emit grumbling, growling, or panting sounds. Orgasm is signaled when the animals emits a deep sigh on dismounting, and often there is direct evidence of ejaculation. Most males both mount and are mounted, except for the oldest silverback males, who only mount. Like lesbian interactions, male homosexual encounters tend to last longer than heterosexual ones and to use the face to face position more often than in male-female interactions.

FREQUENCY

In cosexual groups, 9% of all sexual activity is lesbian and 58% of all social/affectionate interactions of females are with other females (mostly their "favorite" partner); about 2% of moounting episodes occur between males in such groups. Among younger animals in cosexual groups, 7-36% of mounts are between males and 9-14% percent between females. Male homosexual courtship and copulation occur daily in some all-male groups and are thought to exceed the amount of heterosexual activity that takes place in cosexual groups.

Up to 10% of groups in some populations are all-male, and Gorillas spend an average of 6 years in such groups, with some males staying 10+ years.

ORIENTATION

Many female Gorillas are bisexual, having sexual and affectionate relationships with both males and females. but there are clear differeces in the extent to which various individuals participate in homosexual vs heterosexual activity. In general there appears that a continuum exists from those females who prefer lesbian activity to those who have a fairly equal amount of interaction with both males and females, to those who interact primarily with males.

Many male Gorillas are probably "sequentially bisexual", spending portions of their lives having only homosexual encounters in all male groups, followed by periods of oly heterosexual interactions, and so on. Other males, especially younger ones, may be simultaneously bisexual. Depending on the circumstances, such as a group's composition, some males may also have primarily or exclusively homosexual interactios throughout their lives, while others may have only heterosexual ones, but it appears that all males have the capacity for bisexuality

DOLPHINS

Homosexuality is found in both males and females of the Bottlenose Dolphins and the Spinner Dolphins. Behaviors include Courtship, Affection, Sexual, and Pair-bonding.

BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSION:

In both Bottlenose and Spinner Dolphins, animals of the same sex frequently engage in affectionate and sexual activities with each other that have many of the elements of heterosexual courtship and sexuality. For example, two males or two females often rub their bodies together, mouthing and nuzzling one another, and may caress and stroke each other, simultaneously or alternately with their fins, flukes, snouts (or "beaks"), and heads. Sometimes this is accompanied by playful rolling, chasing, pushing, and leaping.

During this activity - which can last anywhere from several minutes to several hours - males may display erect penises. More overt homosexual activity takes a variety of forms. One animal might stroke or gently probe the other's genitals with the soft tips of its flukes or flippers.

Female Spinner Dolphins sometimes even "ride" on each other's dorsal fin; one inserts her fin into the other's vulva or genital slit, then the two swim together in this position. Among Bottleneck females, direct stimulation of the clitoris is a prominent feature of homosexual interactions. Two females often take turns rubbing each other's clitoris, using either the snout, flippers, or flukes, or else actively masturbate against their partners appendages. Females may also clasp one another in a belly-to-belly position (as in heterosexual mating) and thrust against each other.

Homosexual interactions also involve a form of "oral" sex in which one animal rubs and nuzzles the other's genitals with its snout or beak; because both males and females have a genital slit or opening, penetration is also possible in this fashion for both sexes. One animal might insert the tips ofits beak into the other's genitals or perhaps use its lower jaw to penetrate and stimulate his or her partner.

Sometimes this develops into a sexual activity known as BEAK-GENITAL PROPULSION, in which one partner inserts its beak into the other's genitals and gently propels the two of them forward, maintaining penetration while they swim together.

Male Dolphins sometimes rub their erect penises on one another's body or genital area. This may lead to copulation, in which one male swims upside down underneath the other, pressing his genitals against the other and even inserting his penis into the genital slit (or less commonly, anus) of the male above him. This same position position is used in heterosexual intercourse. ..........Groups of 3 or 4 males may engage in homosexual activity together.........

In Spinner Dolphins, groups of a dozen or more dolphins of both sexes sometimes gather together in near "orgies" of caressing and sexual behavior (both same-sex and opposite-sex); these groups are known as WUZZLES.

Male Bottleneck Dolphins often form lifelong pair-bonds with each other. Adolescent and younger males typically live in all-male groups in which homosexual activity is common. Within these groups, a male begins to develop a strong bond with a particular partner (usually the same age) with whom he will spend the rest of his life The two Dolphins become constant companions, often traveling widely; although sexual activity probably declines as they get older, it may continue to be a regular feature of such partnerships.

FREQUENCY:

Homosexual interactions are a frequent and regular occurrence in wild Dolphins, particularly among groups of younger Bottlenose males. In mixed-sex groups in captivity, homosexual behavior occurs with equal frequency - and in some cases, more often than heterosexual activity. Male couples are a ubiqitous feature of many Bottlenose communities; in some cases more than 75% all males live in same-sex pair-bonds. About 30% of interactions between wild Bottlenose and Atlantic Spotted Dolphs include homosexual activities (often accompaned by aggressive behaviors)

ORIENTATION:

The lives of Bottleneck Dolphins are characterized by extensive bisexuality, combined with periods of exclusive homosexuality. As adolescents and young males, they have regular homosexual interactions in all-male groups, sometimes alternating with heterosexual activity.

From age 10 on, most males Dolphins form pair bonds with another male, and because they usually dont father calves until they are 20-25 years old, this can be an extended period - 10-15 years - of principally same sex interaction.

Later, when they begin mating heterosexually, they still retain their primary male pair-bonds. Because only five or six calves are born to a community each year, however, probably no more than half of the adult males are heterosexually active each mating season. Males that do not form same-sex pairs may have a more exclusively heterosexual orientation.

Female Bottlenose Dolphins probably have a similar pattern of bisexual interactions overlaid on a largely female-centered social framework. Spinner Dolphins seem to be more uniformly bisexual

WHITE TAILED AND MULE DEER

White-tailed and Mule (black tailed) deer homosexualty is found in both male and female. Intersexuality and transvestism is expressed. Behaviours include courtship,sex and pair bonding. Ranking is moderate and is observed in both the wild and captivity.

Behavioral Expressions:

Adult male White-tailed Deer sometimes mount each other as do yearling males (especially during the non-breeding season); occasionally a younger one mounts an older one during this activity; Homosexual mounts (like heterosexual ones) are usually preceded by one male nuzzling the other's rear end, and sometimes one male mounts another twice in a row; occasionally the mounting buck has an erection. The mount may be briefer than the heterosexual copulation, but the same duration as heterosexual nonreproductive mounts (5-15 seconds, as opposed to 15-20 seconds).

Yearling Mule deer occasionally mount each other during sparring matches--ritualized, nonviolent contests in which the bucks lock horns. During this activity one male might assume a stiffened position, similar to a female's before copulation. The other male-- sometimes younger and smaller than the first--then mounts him, after first licking and smelling the specal scent-producing glands on his hind legs. Female Mule deer also mount each other when in heat; in addition, some does court other females using a chasing sequence known as RUSH COURTSHIP. In this behaviour (which also occurs in heterosexual contexts), they race toward another female, stopping abruptly and sometimes pawing the ground, pacing, leaping into the air while twisting their body, or running in circles or figure eights; this causes the other doe to become excted and aroused.

Adult male White-tailed deer frequently develop "companionships" or bonds with one (or occasionally two) other adult males in their buck groups; male companionships are generally not related to each other. These strong attachments constitute the stable core of each buck group, and although male companonships typcally separate during the breeding season, they usually resume their bonds once mating is over.

TRANSGENDERED DEER:

An extraordinary form of transgendered deer occurs in some populations of white-tails. These animals, which are genetically male but combine characteristics of both males ansd females, are sometimes called VELVET HGORNS because their antlers are permanently covered with the special "velvet" skin that in most males is shed after the antlers have grown. Their antlers are usually only spikes (without the extensive branching of other males' antlers) and they slope backward and sometimes have enlarged bases.

Physically, Velvet-Horns often have body proportions and facial features more typical of does, while their testes are small and undeveloped (and in fact the animals are infertile).

A similar type of transgender is found amoung Mule Deer, where the animals are known as CACTUS BACKS owing to the distinctive shape of their antlers (which sometimes have elaborate spikes, prongs and asymmetrical growths).

Velvet-Horns usually form their own social groups of three to seven animals and live separately from both does and nontransgendered males. In fact, they are often harrassed and attacked by other deer............. Interestingly, Velvet-Horns are almost always in superior physical condition compared to nontransgendered males..........

Velvet-Horns consistently have excellent body fat deposits and are in prime shape.

Two types of gender-mixing females also occur in White-tailed and Mule Deer, both bearing antlers (females in these species do not usually have antlers). In one type, the antlers are similar to those of velvet-horns; they are permanently covered in velvet, are never shed, and are either spikes or asymmetrical brancing. Unlike velvet-horns, such females are usually fertile, mating heterosexuauly and becoming mothers.

The other type is a more complete form of intersexuality: the antlers are hard and polished, more closely resemble those of males in their branching structure, and may even be shed seasonally. The individuals usually combine both male and female sexual traits, such as having genitala and/or reproductive organs of both sexes, or partial organs of each sex, or chromosomes of one sex combined with the genitalia of the other.

FREQUENCY:

.........in one study of White-tails, two out of ten observed moountings were same sex.

Up to 10% of males are velvet-horns, although their incidence fluctuates. In some years they may constitute as many as 40-80% of all males in a given population..........

ANTELOPE:

Homosexuality is found in the Pronghorn Antelope in both sexes. Transvestism is also observed. Behaviors include sexual and courtship. Prevalence of the activity is moderate and is observed in the wild.

Male Pronghorns court and mount each other in their bachelor herds from April to October, using many og the same behavior patterns found in heterosexual courtship and mating. As a prelude to sexual behavior, one male follows another, sometimes sniffing his anal region. The courting male might then touch his chest to the other male's rump, a signal that he wants to mount.

Usually this leads to a full mount, in which the courting male rises on his hind legs and, slides up onto the other male from behind. Sometimes a whole string or "chain" of courting males forms as each follows and tries to mount the male in front of him. Males of all age groups participate in homosexual courtship and mounting............. Female Pronghorns also rump-sniff and mount each other when they are in heat, although less frequently than males

FREQUENCY:

Overall, about 7% of all courtships/sexual behavior is between animals of the same sex, and about 10% of all mounts are homosexual (roughly 2/3 of these are between males). Among animals of the same sex, approximately 3-4% of their interactions involve some sort of sexual behavior.

ORIENTATION:

Anywhere from 65% to 75% of the male population does not participate in breeding; many of these animals are exclusively homosexual. Two year olds, for example, never mount females, yet bachelors participate in nearly a third of all homosexual mounts.

At the other end of the spectrum, territorial males are almost exclusively heterosexual. In between, various forms of bisexuality occur. About 7% of adult bachelor males are able to mate with females, yet they also account for 18% of homosexual interactions. Some males transfer from from the bachelor herds to territorial staus, thereby particpating in sequential bisexuality over the course of their lives. Many males, however, never become territorial, and though they may try to court females, most of their sexual behavior will contine to be homosexual for the majority, if not the totality, of their lives.

Reproduction in the Pronghorn is also characterized by aggression within the womb, procreation routinely involves embryos killing each other.. As many as seven embryos may initially be present in the females uterus, but only two will survive. The remainder are killed by the other developing fetuses, which grow long projections out of their fetal membranes that fatally puncture the others........ The female reabsorbs any embryos that die

BUFFALO:

Homosexuality is found in males and females of the American Bison, the Wisent (European Bison) and the African Buffalo. Intersexual Bison or "hermaphroditism" occurs spontaneously in nature. Behaviors include Affection, sexuality and Pair-bonding.

Homosexual ranking is 'Primary' and is observed in the wild, semi-wild and in captivity.

BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSION:

Male American Bison participate in a variety of homosexual activities. Among younger bulls (less than 5 years old, particularly 1-3 year olds), anal intercourse is common. One male mounts the other withan erect penis and achieves anal pentration: the animal being mounted often facilitates the sexual interaction by positioning his hips or backing toward the other male with his tail lifted to the side. Homosexual copulation lasts on average nearly twice as long as heterosexual mating. The same bull may be mounted several times in succession by one or several other males, but reciprocal mounting is less common, since bulls that mount other males do not allow themselves to be mounted (although males that are mounted do try to mount their partners).

Homosexual mounting also occurs in a number of other contexts: in all 3 species, males may mount each other during 'play-fighting'. An adult American Bison may also mount another animal at the conclusion of an aggressive interaction. In these two contexts, mounting does not usually involve penetration, although erection of the penis and pelvic thrusting may occur. Female homosexual mounting and "chin-resting" also ocur in Wisent and African Buffalo.

American Bison bulls, especially younger males, also sometime form a TENDING BOND or consortship with another male. This paired association resembles the temporary monogamous bond formed between males and females during the rutting season. In a homosexual "tending", one male closely follows and defends another male and may mount him as well. In some pairs mounting is recipocal, in others only one mounts. In addition, younger males sometimes form "tending groups" of four to five.....

Some of these males may accompany heterosexual tending pairs but never participate in sexual activity with either member of the pair

TRANSGENDERED BUFFALO

Among American Bison, various types of intersexuality occasionally occur spontaneously in nature. Some transgendered individuals are known s BUFFALO OX and grow to be extraordinarily tall; they may be one and a half times bigger than a non-transgendered bull and generally have shorter fur as well.

Other intersexuals are intermediate in size between males and females, possess malelike horns, and have female external genitalia and a uterus combined with testes. During tending bonds these animals interact with both males and females; one individual tended females the way a heterosexual male would, but was also tended by other bulls as in heterosexual and homosexual interactions.

FREQUENCY:

Homosexual mounting is very prevalent among American Bison bulls, especially during the rutting season, when it may be seen several times a day. In fact, homosexual mounting is more common than heterosexua mounting in this species......

..............Studies of semi-wild populations have found that more than 55% of mounting in younger males is same-sex, and for some age categories all mounting behavior may be homosexual.

ORIENTATION:

In American, and probably European, Bison, younger bulls, nearly 2/3 of the male population are functionally bisexual, although many actually participate exclusively in homosexual activity. It was once thought that such males only engage in homosexual mounting because older bulls prevent their access to females; however, studies on captive herds have shown that bulls still participate extensively in homosexual behavior even when older bulls are not present. Older bulls,as well as females in Wisent and African Buffalo, are probably functionally bisexual but primarily heterosexual, with many individual never engaging in homosexual activity.

FLYING FOXES & BATS

Homosexuality is found n both males and females in Vampire Bats, Livingstone's Fruit Bats and the Grey-Headed Flying Foxes. Behaviors include Affection, Sexual activity, and Pair-bonding. Ranking is moderate and homosexual behavior is seen in the wild and in captivity.

BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSION

Gray-headed Flying Foxes of both sexes engage in a form of mutual homosexual grooming and caressing when they are in their separate "camps". One animal wraps its wings around another of the same sex in an embrace, licking and gently biting the chest and wings of its partner, rubbing its head on the other's chest, and grooming it with its claws. Males may have an erection while they do this, and individuals generally utter a continuous pulsed, grating call while engaged in this activity. Livingstone's Fruit Bats participate in similar forms of grooming and other homosexual activity. Combined with bouts of intense body licking; either mutual or one sided; both males and females in this species they sometimes lick, nuzzle and sniff the genitals of a same-sex partner. Clasping, play-wrestling, and gentle mouthing or biting of the partner will occur as well. This may lead to homosexual mounting in which one Bat grips the other from behind, holding the scruff of its neck in its mouth.

Male Vampire Bats also participate in sexual grooming and licking of one another. Two males hang belly to belly; each with an erect penis. One male then works his tongue over the entire body of the other male, paying particalar attention to licking the other male's genitals. Sometimes one male will masturbate himself while licking his partner, using his free foot to rub his own penis. Although overt sexual behavior has not been observed among female Vampire Bats, females do form long lasting bonds with one another. Companions share the same roost, groom one another, huddle together, and go foraging together. Associations like these can last for 5 to 10 years or more, and some females bond with several different female companions simultaneously.

FREQUENCY

Overt sexual behavior among Gray-headed Flying Foxes and Vampire Bats probably occurs only occasionally and is more common in male Flying Foxes than in females. But various same-sex activities occur regularly in Livingstone's Fruit Bats in captivity. In Vampire Bats, between 1/2 and 3/4 of all companionships or close associations are between females.

ORIENTATION

It is difficult to draw any definitive conclusions regarding the orientation of their sexual behavior. Nevertheless, it is likely that many Gray-headed Bats are seasonally bisexual, since they participate in homosexual activities when they are in the sex-segregated "camps" during the non-breeding season.

Among Vampire Bats in captiviy, some males seem to show what amounts to a preference for homosexual activity, since they bypass females in order to interact sexually with another male (although its not known whether this "preference" is temporary or long lasting).

Livingsone's Fruit Bats may be simultaneously bisexual, able to alternate between same-sex and opposite-sex activities in a relatively short span of time

CANADA & SNOW GOOSE

Homosexuality in Canada Geese is found in both males and females. Behaviors include Courtship and Pair-Bonding, Parenting, and Sexual. Its found on a moderate basis and is seen in the wild, the semi-wild and in captivity

BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSIONS

In Canada Geese, two birds of the same sex sometimes form a pair-bond. Both male and female homosexual pairs occur, and the partners me be either adults or juveniles; homosexual bonds often persist for many years (as do heterosexual ones). Courtship behavior in the form of HEAD-DIPPING is frequently a part of such bonds: in this display, one bird ritually splashes water over the back of its head and neck by dipping its head deep into the water and then lifting it up. In heterosexual contexts, this is often a prelude to copulation, but homosexual copulation is not a prominent feaure of same-sex pairs.

One exception involves trios: occasionally a bond forms between 3 birds---2 females and 1 male---and sometimes the females will mount and copulate with the other female. Some lesbian pairs try to raise a family: one female in a homosexual pair, for example, built a nest and laid eggs while her partner stood guard, then the other female built her own nest next to the firt and also laid eggs. None of the eggs hatched, however, because the females rolled the eggs (which were probably not fertile in any case) back and forth between their nests and broke all of them..

More successful lesbian parening occurs in Snow Geese. Pair-bonds between females are strong: when one member of the pair is absent from her mate, the other begins loudly calling to her until she returns.. The pair builds a single nest in which each female lays eggs; as a result, such nests may have SUPERNORMAL CLUTCHES containing double the number of eggs in heterosexual nests--(8 eggs vs. 4-5). Both birds take turns incubating the eggs (in heterosexual couples the male does not incubate).

Since one or both females sometimes copulates with males, some of their eggs may be fertile. When they hatch, both females raise the goslings, including defending them against intruders and predators.......

.........Male homosexual pairs are not found in Snow Geese, although occasionally a cross species pairing does develop between a male Snow Goose and a male Canada Goose. The two birds become constant companions, following one another and roosting close together, although nest building and copulation do not usually take place.

FREQUENCY:

In Canada Geese, up to 12% of pairs in some (semiwild) populations are homosexual. The proportion is much smaller in Snow Geese: about 1 in 200 to a pair of females. Approximately 4% of all mountings during Snow Goose rape attempts are between males.

ORIENTATION:

In one study of Canada Geese, 18% of the males formed homosexual pair-bonds, while 6%-12% of females did. Some birds in same-sex pairs appear to "prefer" their homosexual association, even if they have the opportunity for heterosexual interactions. In one case, a male harrassed a female who was part of a long-lasting lesbian pair and separated from her companion, mating with her. However, the next year she returned to her female partner and their pair-bond resumed. On the other hand, some birds have a preference for for heterosexual pairings: many males remain unpaired if there are no available females rather than forming homosexual pair-bonds with each other.......

ELEPHANTS

Elephant homosexuality is found in both males and females. Behaviors include: Affection, Sex and Pair Bonding. Observed in the wild (females in captivity) and is moderate.

Behavioral Expression:

Both African and Asian Elephant males participate in homosexual mounting. Among African Elephants, same-sex activity--which often takes place at or in watering holes--may be preceded by a great deal of caressing and affectionate behaviors. Two males intertwine their trunks, gently nudge each other, touch mouths in a "kiss", place their trunk tips in each other's mouth, roll over one another, and generally frolic together, sometimes with erections.

One male often signals his intention to mount by extending his trunk along the other male's back, sometimes pushing him forward with his tusks (a gesture also used in sexual interactions between males and females). Homosexual mounting may also be preceded by one male sniffing or touching the other's penis with the tip of his trunk. Mounting occurs in the typical heterosexual position, with one male behind the other, and often the mounting male has an erect penis. Homosexual mating lasts about the same lengh as heterosexual mating, generally less than a minute, although one male may mount another several times in succession..........

Although female homosexual activity has not yet been observed among wild Elephants, in captivity females sometimes masturbate one another with their trunks (a females clitoris is nearly 17 inches long when erect or engorged).............

Male Elephants also form "companionships", usually composed of an older bull and an attendant younger male. In contrast, there are no long lasting heterosexual bonds in these species..........The two males are constant companions..............

SPOTTED HYENAS

Live in matrilinear clans of 30-80 individuals. The females dominate the males. Homosexuality is found mostly in Females. There are patterns of transvestism. Behavior is sexual. Ranking is moderate and these behaviors are seening the wild and captivity.

BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSION:

Female Spotted Hyenas have an extraordinary genital configuration that makes them superficially resemble males: the clitoris is 90% the length of the male's penis (nearly 7 inches long) and equal to it in diameter; it can be fully erected. In addition, the labia are fused to resemble a "scrotum" containing fat and connective tissue that give the appearance of testes. There is no vaginal opening--instead, the female mates and gives birth (as well as urinates) thru the tip of her clitoris. Heterosexual mating is accomplished by retracting the clitoris inside the abdomen, essentially turning it inside out to form a passageway within which the male can insert his penis.

During a homosexual encounter, one female approaches another with her clitoris erect, often "flipping" it up against her abdomen as a sign of sexual arousal (also seen in males preparing to mate). She may lick her partner on the back, then mount by rising up and clasping her front paws around the other female, resting her head on the other's neck, and thrusting against her. Clitoral penetration may occur, though it is not common.

Spotted hyenas also perform a "meeting ceremony" involving clitoral erection and genital licking: two females stand parrallel to each other but with their heads in oppositie directions so they can access each other's genitals. One or both of the lifts up her hind leg and allows the other to sniff, nuzzle, and lick her erect clitoris and "scrotum"--sometimes as long as half a minute--occasionally accompanied by a soft groaning or whining sound.

PENGUINS

Male and female homosexuality is found in Humboldt Penguins, King Penguins, and Gentoo Penguins. Behaviors include: Courtship, Affection, Sexual, Pair-Bonding, and Parenting. Its level is moderate and is observed in both the wild and in captivity.

BEHAVIOR EXPRESSIONS:

Lifelong homosexual pair-bonds sometimes develop between Humboldt Penguins. Like herosexual pairs, same-sex partners remain together for many years; some male couples have stayed together for up to six years, up untill the death of one of the partners. Same-sex pairs (like opposite sex pairs) spend much of their time close together, often touching.

They usually live together in a nest they have built---either an underground burrow, a shallow bowl dug in the ground, or a rock niche lined with twigs.

Unlike male pars in other birds, though, homosexual pairs of Humboldt Penguins never acquire any eggs. Courtship and pair-bonding activities are also a prominent aspect of homosexual partnerships. This includes the "ECSTATIC DISPLAY" in which a male stretches his head and neck upward, spreading his flippers wide and flapping them while emitting several long, very loud donkeylike brays. Sometimes this is perfored mutually by both males standing side by side.

Homosexual partners also "ALLOPREEN" each other, affectionatley running their bills thru one another's feathers.

..As a prelude to copulation, one male approaches the other from behind, pressing against his body and vibrating his flippers against his partner. This disinctive display is known as "ARMS ACT". Homosexual copulation occurs when the bird in front lies down on his chest, allowing the other male to climb onto his back; genital contact ay occur when the male being mounted holds his tail up or to the side and exposes his cloaca.

In King Penguins, same sex pairs also occur, in both males and females. Homosexual courtship also occurs early in the breeding season among Gentoo Penguins. A male or a female brings an "offering" of pebbles or grass and lays it at the feet of another bird of the same sex, bowing and making slight hissing noises.

FREQUENCY:

In some Zoo populations of Humboltd Penguins, at least 5% of all pairs are homosexual, and 12% of all copulations are between males. Among paired birds,10% of mountings take place in male couples .........wild Gentoo Penguins; in one informal survey, 3 of 13 (23%) courtships by Gentoos were same-sex.

ORIENTATION:

Some male Humboldt Penguins are exclusively homosexual, reaining with their male partners for their entire lives, or else re-pairing with another mail should they lose their original partner. Other males are sequentially bisexual, pairing with a male after having lost one or more previous female mates. Still other males are simultaneously bisexual, engaging in both same-sex and opposite-sex courtship and copulation...........

..............Among King Penguins, birds in same-sex pairs are probably exclusively homosexual for the duration of their pair bonds and birds exhibit a "preference" for same-sex mates even when unpaired birds of the opposite sex are available Over the course of their lives, however, most such birds are sequentially bisexual, since following a break-up of a homosexual pair they may go on to form heterosexual pair-bonds and even raise a family

NEXT: SAME-SEX PARENTING AND SEXUAL DIVERSITY AS BIODIVERSITY IN NATURE

These online essays are originally from the Bruce Bagemhil book "BIOLOGICAL EXUBERANCE"

Formidable Fathers and Supernormal Mothers: Homosexual Parenting

Same-sex pairs in many species (especially birds) raise young together. Not only are they competent parents, homosexual pairs sometimes actually exceed heterosexual ones in the number of eggs they lay, the size of their nests, or the skill and extent of their parenting.

How are such animals able to have offspring in the first place if they are in homosexual associations? Many different strategies are used, including several in which one or both partners are the biological parent(s) of the young they raise together. The most common parenting arrangement of this type is found in lesbian pairs of several Full, Tern, and Goose species: one or both female partners copulate with a male to fertilize her eggs. No bonding or long-term association develops between the female and the male (who is essentially a "sperm donor" to the homosexual pair), and the youngsters are then jointly raised by both females without any assistance from a male parent.

Two male Harbor Seals "pair-rolling" (a courtship and sexual behavior) Illustration by John Megahan, � 1999.Because female birds can lay eggs regardless of whether they are fertilized, however, each partner in a lesbian pair usually contributes a full clutch of eggs to their nest even if she hasn't mated with a male. As a result, female homosexual pairs often lay what are called supernormal clutches, that is, double the number of eggs usually found in nests of heterosexual pairs.

Sometimes two female animals who already have offspring join forces, bonding together and raising their young as a same-sex family unit (among mammals, female coparents may even suckle each other's young): this occurs in Grizzly Bears, Red Foxes, Warthogs, Dwarf Cavies, Lesser Scaup Ducks, and Sage Grouse. Notably, heterosexual pairs do not occur in these species, and most offspring are otherwise raised by single females.

In some species, a nonbreeding animal bonds with a (single) breeding animal and helps parent its young: this occurs in Squirrel Monkeys, Northern Elephant Seals, Jackdaws (where a widowed female with young may pair with a single female), and Greater Rheas (where one male may help another incubate his eggs and then raise the young together.)

In most such joint parenting arrangements (as opposed to homosexual mated pairs), there is not necessarily any overt courtship or sexual activity between the bonded coparents, although is some species (e.g. Squirrel Monkeys, Northern Elephant Seals, Emus, Sage Grouse), homosexual activity does occur in contexts other than between coparents. Still other birds (e.g., Greylag Geese, Common Gulls, Oystercatchers) may form bisexual parenting trios, mating with the opposite-sexed partner(s) in their association while maintaining homosexual and heterosexual bonds simultaneously, with all three birds then raising the resulting offspring together. A variation on this arrangement in Black Swans involves a sort of "surrogate motherhood": established male homosexual pairs sometimes associate temporarily with a female, mating with her to father their own offspring. Once the eggs are laid, however, they chase her away and raise the cygnets on her own as a homosexual couple.

In a number of cases, homosexual pairs raise young without being the biological parents of the offspring they care for. Some same-sex pairs adopt young: two female Northern Elephant Seals occasionally adopt and coparent an orphaned pup, while male Hooded Warblers and Black-headed Gulls may adopt eggs or entire nests that have been abandoned by females, and pairs of male Cheetahs occasionally look after lost cubs.

Sometimes female birds "donate" eggs to homosexual couples through a process known as parasitism: in many birds, females lay eggs in nests other than their own, leaving the parenting duties to the "host" couple. This occurs both within the same species, and (more commonly) across species, and usually involves heterosexual hosts. Male pairs of Hooded Warblers, however, sometimes receive eggs from Brown-headed Cowbirds (and possibly also from females of their own species) in this way; within-species parasitism may also provide eggs for male pairs of Black-headed Gulls and female pairs in Roseate and Caspian Terns.

The opposite situation is thought to occur in Ring-billed Gulls: researchers believe that some homosexually paired females actually lay eggs in nests belonging to heterosexual pairs. Finally, some birds in same-sex pairs take over or "kidnap" nests from heterosexual pairs (e.g., in Caspian and Roseate Terns, Black-headed Gulls); homosexual pairs in captivity also raise foster young provided to them.

In a detailed study of parental behavior by female pairs of Ring-billed Gulls, scientists found no significant differences in quality of care provided by homosexual as opposed to heterosexual parents. They concluded that there was not anything that male Ring-billed Gull parents provided that two females could not offer equally well.

This case is not exceptional: homosexual parents are generally as good at parenting as heterosexual ones. Examples of same-sex pairs successfully raising young have been documented in at least 20 species, and in a few cases, homosexual couples actually appear to have an advantage over heterosexual ones. Pairs of male Black Swans, for example, are often able to acquire the largest and best-quality territories for raising young because of their combined strength. Such fathers -- dubbed "formidable" adversaries by one scientist -- consequently tend to be more successful at raising offspring than most heterosexual pairs. And in many species in which single parenting is the rule (because there is no heterosexual pair-bonding), same-sex pairs provide a unique opportunity for young to be raised by two parents (e.g., Squirrel Monkeys, Grizzly Bears, Lesser Scaup Ducks.)

Moreover, in some Gulls, female pairs are consigned (for a variety of reasons) to less than optimal territories, yet they still successfully raise young: in many cases they compensate by investing more parental effort -- and are more dutiful in caring for their chicks -- than male-female pairs. There are exceptions, of course: some female pairs of Gulls, for instance, tend to lay smaller eggs and raise fewer chicks (although this is also true of heterosexual trios attending supernormal clutches), while same-sex parents in Jackdaws, Canada Geese, and Oystercatchers may experience parenting difficulties such as egg breakage or nonsynchronization of incubation duties. By and large, though, same-sex couples are competent and occasionally even superior parents.

Biodiversity = Sexual Diversity

Scientists are beginning to find evidence that this diversity in social and mating systems contributes directly to the "success" of a species. For instance, among great bustards (a large, storklike bird found in southern Europe and North Africa), flexibility in heterosexual mating systems gives the bird a greater adaptability, enabling them to cope with difficult or variable ecological conditions.

And in some species, homosexuality itself appears to be associated with environmental or social changes in ways that are suggestive but (so far) poorly understood. Male pairing in Golden Plovers, for example, is claimed to be more prevalent in years when severe winter snowstorms have "disrupted" heterosexual pairing, while female coparenting among Grizzlies appears to be characteristic of animals living in conditions of environmental or social flux. In Ostriches, homosexual courtships may be linked to unusually rainy seasons that alter the species' overall sexual and social patterns. Likewise, same-sex pairs in Ring-billed and California Gulls are more common in newly founded colonies that are experiencing rapid expansion, while homosexual activities in Rhesus and Stumptail Macaques (and a number of other primates) are often associated with changes in the composition or dynamics of the social group.

Although the correlations between these factors need to be more systematically investigated -- a linear, one-way, cause-and-effect relationship is surely not involved -- they do suggest that sexual, social and environmental variability may be closely allied.

Specifically, the capacity for behavioral plasticity -- including homosexuality -- may strengthen the ability of a species to respond "creatively" to a highly changeable and "unpredictable" world. As primatologist G. Gray Eaton suggests, sexual versatility as both a biological and a cultural phenomenon in animals may be directly responsible for a species' success, in ways that challenge conventional views of evolution:

The macaques' sexual behavior includes both hetero- and homosexual aspects as part of the "normal" pattern. Protocultural variations of some of these patterns have already been discussed but it is well to remember the extreme variation in behavior that characterizes individuals and groups of primates. This plasticity of behavior has apparently played a major role in the evolutionary success of primates by allowing them to adapt to a variety of social and environmental conditions ... The variability and plasticity of the behavior ... suggests an optimistic or "maximal view of human potentialities and limitations" ... rather than a pessimistic or minimal view of man as a biological machine functioning on the basis of instinct. This minimal view based on the fang-and-claw school of Darwinism finds little support in the evidence of protocultural evolution in nonhuman primates.

This is not to say that such plasticity always has an identifiable "function" in relation to specific environmental or social factors (even though a few such "functions" can be discerned in specific cases, as we saw in previous chapters). Behavioral versatility is best regarded as a manifestation of the larger "chaotic ordering" or non-linearity of the world, rather than merely a response to it. A broader synergy is involved, a pattern of overall adaptability that can be realized in ways that do not necessarily entails any literal "contribution" to reproduction or any straightforward "improvement" in an animal's well-being. In other words, it is the presence of behavior flexibility in a system that is as valuable, if not more so, than its actual concrete "usefulness" or "functionality."

Taken together, these observations -- of sexual diversity, and the strength imparted by such sexual variability -- lead to an important conclusion. The concept of biodiversity should be extended to include not only the genetic variety, but also the systems of social organization found within a species or ecosystem. In other words, sexual and gender systems are an essential measure of biological vitality. The more diverse patterns of social/sexual organization that a species or biological system contains -- including homosexuality, transgender, and nonreproductive heterosexuality -- the stronger that system will be.

Mating and courtship patterns are, after all, as much a part of the "complexity" of an ecosystem as the number of species it contains -- and same-sex activity is an integral part of those mating and courtship systems in many animals. It stands to reason, then, that a rich mosaic of different social patterns should increase the vitality of a system, even when such patterns themselves are apparently "unproductive" or are found in only a fraction of the population.

In a rain forest that contains many hundreds of thousands of species of mammals, birds, insects, plants, and so on, the "purpose" of yet one more kind of beetle may be difficult to see -- except when understood in terms of its contribution to the overall complexity and vitality of the environment. Similarly, the "function" of a particular social or sexual behavior such as homosexual courtship or heterosexual reverse mounting may seem minimal or even nonexistent at the level of a particular species or individual. But its contribution to the overall strength of the system is independent of such "utility" (or lack thereof) and is also independent of the proportion of the population that participates in it.

Every individual, every behavior -- whether productive or "counterproductive," comprising 1 percent or 99 percent of the population -- has a part to play. Its roles is not in the tapestry of life, but as the tapestry of life: its existence is its "function." Biological destiny is intrinsically valuable, and homosexuality/transgender is one reflection of that diversity.

The Perversion of Scientific Discourse

From Biological Exuberance

In many ways, the treatment of animal homosexuality in the scientific discourse has closely paralleled the discussion of human homosexuality in society at large. Homosexuality in both animals and people has been considered, at various times, to be a pathological conditions; a social aberrations; an "immoral," "sinful," or "criminal" perversion; an artificial product of confinement or the unavailability of the opposite sex; a reversal or "inversion" or heterosexual "roles"; a "phase" that younger animals go through on the path to heterosexuality; an imperfect imitation of heterosexuality; an exceptional but unimportant activity; a useless and puzzling curiosity. And a functional behavior that "stimulates" or "contributes to" heterosexuality.

In many other respects, however, the outright hostility toward animal homosexuality has transcended all historical trends. One need only look at the litany of derogatory terms, which have remained essentially constant from the late 1800s to the present day, used to describe this behavior: words such as strange, bizarre, perverse, aberrant, deviant, abnormal, anomalous, and unnatural have all been used routinely in "objective" scientific descriptions of the phenomenon and continue to be used (one of the most recent examples is from 1997.) In addition, heterosexual behavior is consistently defined in numerous scientific accounts as "normal" in contrast to homosexual activity.

The entire history of ideas about, and attitudes toward, homosexuality is encapsulated in the titles of zoological articles (or book chapters) on the subject through the ages: "Sexual Perversion in Male Beetles" (1896), "Sexual Inversion in Animals" (1908), "Disturbances of the Sexual Sense [in Baboons]) (1922), "Pseudomale Behavior in a Female Bengalee [a domesticated finch] (1957), "Aberrant Sexual Behavior in the South African Ostrich" (1972), "Abnormal Sexual Behavior of Confined Female Hemichienus auritus syriacus [Long-eared Hedgehogs]" (1981), "Pseudocopulation in Nature in a Unisexual Whiptail Lizard" (1991.)

The prize, though, surely has to go to W.J. Tennent, who in 1987 published an article entitled, "A Note on the Apparent Lowering of Moral Standards in the Lepidoptera." In this unintentionally revealing report, the author describes the homosexual mating of Mazarine Blue butterflies in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The entomologist's behavioral observations, however, are prefaced with a lament:

"It is a sad sign of our times that the National newspapers are all too often packed with the lurid details of declining moral standards and of horrific sexual offences committed by our fellow Homo sapiens ; perhaps it is also a sign of the times that the entomological literature appears of late to be heading in a similar direction."

Declining moral standards -- in butterflies?! Remembers, these are descriptions by scientists in respected scholarly publications of phenomena occurring in nature!

In addition to such labels as unnatural, abnormal , and perverse , a variety of other negative (or less than impartial) designations have also been employed in the scientific literature. Once again, these span the decades. Mounting among Domestic Bulls is characterized as a "male homosexual vice" (1983), echoing a description from nearly a century earlier in which same-sex activities between male Elephants are classified as "vices" and "crimes of sexuality" that are "prohibited by the rules of at least one Christian denomination" (1892). Courtship and mounting between male Lions is called an "atypical sexual fixation" (1942); same-sex relations in Buff-breasted Sandpipers are described in an article on "sexual nonsense" in this species (1989); while courtship and mounting between female Domestic Turkeys are referred to as "defects in sexual behavior" (1955). Homosexual activities in Spinner Dolphins (1984), Killer Whales (1992), Caribou (1974), and Adelie Penguins (1988) are characterized as "inappropriate" (or as being directed toward "inappropriate" partners), and same-sex courtship among Black-billed Magpies (1979) and Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock (1985) is called "misdirected." In what is perhaps the most oblique designation, one scientist uses the term heteroclite (meaning "irregular" or "deviant") to refer to Sage Grouses engaging in homosexual courtship or copulations (1942).

Besides labeling same-sex behavior with derogatory or biased terms, many scientists have felt the need to embellish their descriptions of homosexuality with other sorts of value judgments. Repeatedly referring to same-sex activity in female Long-eared Hedgehogs as "abnormal," for example, one zoologist matter-of-factly reported that he separated the two females he was studying for fear that they might actually "suffer damage" from continuing to engage in this behavior.

Similarly, in describing pairs of female Eastern Gray Kangaroos, another scientist suggested that only in cases where there was no (overt) homosexual behavior between the females could bonding be considered to represent a "positive relationship between the two animals."

In the 1930s, homosexual pairing in Black-crowned Night Herons was labeled a "real danger," while biologist (upon learning the true sex of the birds) referred to his discovery and reporting of same-sex activities in King Penguins as "regrettable disclosures" and "damaging admissions" about "disturbing" activities. More than 50 years later, a scientist suggested that homosexual behavior between male Gorillas in zoos would be "disturbing to the public" were it not for the fact that people would be unable to distinguish it from "normal heterosexual mating behavior."Same-sex pairing in Lorikeets has been described as an "unfortunate" occurrence, while mounting activity between female Red Foxes has been characterized as being part of a "Rabelaisian mood."

Finally, in describing the behavior of Greenshanks, an ornithologist used unabashedly florid and sympathetic language to characterize an episode of heterosexual copulation, referring to it as a "lovely act of mating" and concluding, "The grace, movement, and passion of this mating had created a poem of ecstasy and delight." In contrast, homosexual copulations in the same species were given only cursory descriptions, and one episode was even characterized as a "bizarre affair."

Lesbian Japanese monkeys challenge Darwin's assumptions

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/02/19/waa19.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/02/19/ixnewstop.html/news/2003/02/19/waa19.xml

The promiscuous sex life of lesbian Japanese monkeys is challenging one of the central tenets of Charles Darwin. He argued that females are coy, mate rarely and choose mates to ensure the best genetic inheritance for their offspring, while males are promiscuous and fight among themselves for female partners.

But after studying Japanese macaques in the wild, Dr Paul Vasey, of the University of Lethbridge, Canada, begs to differ. He found that bisexuality is common in females and that they often compete with males for sexual partners. "In some populations, female Japanese macaques sometimes prefer same-sex partners," he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. "That occurs even when they are presented with sexually motivated, opposite-sex alternatives."

Males are often prompted into sexual intercourse only if they are first mounted by females. Dr Vasey said: "Female-male mounting in Japanese macaques is an adaptation that sexually motivated females employ to prompt sluggish or uninterested males to copulate with them."

He observed that the females gain pleasure from mounting males, often rubbing themselves against a male's back or stimulating themselves with their tails.

Dr Vasey said that once they evolved the capacity to mount males, they could gain the same sexual gratification from mounting females. "I see females competing for males all the time," he said. "I see males ignoring females that are desperate to copulate with them."

Dr Joan Roughgarden, a biologist at Stanford University, said the macaque was just one of many species that did not fit Darwin's theory of sex selection.

Female langur monkeys promiscuously mated with many males, for instance. Homosexuality in animals - at least 300 invertebrates practise it - was also unexplained by Darwin.

Dr Roughgarden said that a more comprehensive theory of sex selection should take into account social as well as sexual selection. Mating could function to build and manage relationships as well as to reproduce. "Female choice, I am pretty sure, has much more to do with managing male power than it does with trying to obtain good genes."

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