Spurred by a recent article unearthing an early 20th century study of debaucherous penguins, I feel compelled to reproduce a halfhearted survey of the gayness of animals documented in 450+ vertebrate species.
First, the penguins: Adeile penguins, subject to the observation of a 1910 polar expedition, and very likely causing severe blushing in the ship full of horny explorers. The explorers called them "hooligan" penguins. I would die to get a hold of the 4 page pamphlet one of these guys wrote - about fucking Penguins - that was concealed for obscenity for a century. In addition to "autoerotic tendencies," these little guys apparently occasionally engaged in "necrophilia, sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks, non-procreative sex and homosexual behaviors."
(Note: the above penguins were deemed gay penguins circa 1910).
Then, the ducks. Homosexual Necrophilia in mallards. Weird. But the more I looked the more I found reports not only of some gay behavior in the animal kingdom (to which I'd say, "fucking duh"), but of predominately gay behavior in certain species, which blows my mind. Apparently 1500 species are known to practice some same sex sex, or at least coupling. Highlights:
(1) Dolphins. Dolphins are hoes, generally. They behave homosexually and heterosexually in equal measures. They regularly engage in gay oral sex and hump one another. While most males are bisexual, they go through periods of exclusive homosexuality.
(2) Bonobos. "Nearly all" bonobos "are bisexual," and "2/3 of the homosexual activities are amongst females." Here is the highly amusing photo of the bonobos:
(Credit: Zanna Clay).
(3) Macaques. Female macaques form serial monogamous relationships, of which they have several in a breeding season. Males have homosexual one-night stands.
(4) Giraffes. Frequent male courtships that include mounting. Homosexual activity predominates in some cases.
(5) Bison. Males mate with females only once a year and 55% of mounting males are mounting other males.
(6) Antelopes. Females mount each other a couple times an hour during mating season and ~9% of sexual activity is homosexual. One female "slides" up behind her partner, raises her foreleg to stroke the other female between the legs, and later they mount.
(7) Swans. This bit, I have to quote: "Homosexual couples account for up to 20 percent of all pairings annually. Almost a quarter of all families are parented by homosexual couples that remain together for years. At times, male couples use the services of a female by mating with her. Once she lays a clutch of eggs, the wanna-be fathers chase her away and hatch the eggs. Other times, they just drive away heterosexual couples from their nests and adopt their eggs."
(8) Walruses. Males sleep cuddled up together, mate with males before maturity and after, year round, and only copulate with females during breeding season and after maturity.
(9) Gray Whales. Regularly have up-to-five-male orgies, touching genitals with one another.
(10) Guinean Cocks. Almost 40% of the male population engages in some homosexual behavior and a "small percentage" don't ever copulate with females.
It sounds to me like this is saying that factors such as gestation period and time-to-maturity (in mammals at least) can lead to the practice of certain homosexual behaviors as more appropriate assuagers of sexual urges. In all cases it seems that same-sex coupling is forming portion of their lifestyle.
Considering that there's also a suggestion that behavior of the X chromosome observing methylation dramatically correlates with the incidence of women with two gay sons, I'd say it's time for some comparative genetics. Who's down for mapping the genome of the above animals and seeing what we have in common?
First, the penguins: Adeile penguins, subject to the observation of a 1910 polar expedition, and very likely causing severe blushing in the ship full of horny explorers. The explorers called them "hooligan" penguins. I would die to get a hold of the 4 page pamphlet one of these guys wrote - about fucking Penguins - that was concealed for obscenity for a century. In addition to "autoerotic tendencies," these little guys apparently occasionally engaged in "necrophilia, sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks, non-procreative sex and homosexual behaviors."
(Note: the above penguins were deemed gay penguins circa 1910).
Then, the ducks. Homosexual Necrophilia in mallards. Weird. But the more I looked the more I found reports not only of some gay behavior in the animal kingdom (to which I'd say, "fucking duh"), but of predominately gay behavior in certain species, which blows my mind. Apparently 1500 species are known to practice some same sex sex, or at least coupling. Highlights:
(1) Dolphins. Dolphins are hoes, generally. They behave homosexually and heterosexually in equal measures. They regularly engage in gay oral sex and hump one another. While most males are bisexual, they go through periods of exclusive homosexuality.
(2) Bonobos. "Nearly all" bonobos "are bisexual," and "2/3 of the homosexual activities are amongst females." Here is the highly amusing photo of the bonobos:
(Credit: Zanna Clay).
(3) Macaques. Female macaques form serial monogamous relationships, of which they have several in a breeding season. Males have homosexual one-night stands.
(4) Giraffes. Frequent male courtships that include mounting. Homosexual activity predominates in some cases.
(5) Bison. Males mate with females only once a year and 55% of mounting males are mounting other males.
(6) Antelopes. Females mount each other a couple times an hour during mating season and ~9% of sexual activity is homosexual. One female "slides" up behind her partner, raises her foreleg to stroke the other female between the legs, and later they mount.
(7) Swans. This bit, I have to quote: "Homosexual couples account for up to 20 percent of all pairings annually. Almost a quarter of all families are parented by homosexual couples that remain together for years. At times, male couples use the services of a female by mating with her. Once she lays a clutch of eggs, the wanna-be fathers chase her away and hatch the eggs. Other times, they just drive away heterosexual couples from their nests and adopt their eggs."
(8) Walruses. Males sleep cuddled up together, mate with males before maturity and after, year round, and only copulate with females during breeding season and after maturity.
(9) Gray Whales. Regularly have up-to-five-male orgies, touching genitals with one another.
(10) Guinean Cocks. Almost 40% of the male population engages in some homosexual behavior and a "small percentage" don't ever copulate with females.
It sounds to me like this is saying that factors such as gestation period and time-to-maturity (in mammals at least) can lead to the practice of certain homosexual behaviors as more appropriate assuagers of sexual urges. In all cases it seems that same-sex coupling is forming portion of their lifestyle.
Considering that there's also a suggestion that behavior of the X chromosome observing methylation dramatically correlates with the incidence of women with two gay sons, I'd say it's time for some comparative genetics. Who's down for mapping the genome of the above animals and seeing what we have in common?
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