The fabulo kgdom of gay animals |

Contents:

• MALE LN CGHT “MATG” WH MALE LN… GAY PRI? NOT QUE
• GAY ANIMALS: ALTERNATE LIFTYL THE WILD
• 5 ANIMAL SPECI THAT ARE TOTALLY GAY
• THE FABULO KGDOM OF GAY ANIMALS
• GAY ANIMALS
• GAY ANIMALS OUT OF THE CLOSET?

MALE LN CGHT “MATG” WH MALE LN… GAY PRI? NOT QUE

Asked by: Jack England, DorchterHomosexual behavur has been observed at least 1, 500 different animal speci. In fact, no speci has actually been monstrated to show no cince of homosexual behavur at all, apart om those that don't actually have sex. However, scientific quiry to such behavrs didn’t happen until relatively recently due to historilly pervasive, negative attus towards homosexualy humans.

New work by evolutnary blogists suggts that perhaps, bld by historil homophobia, we have been askg the wrong qutn all along. In the past, was thought that female maqu engage homosexual relatnships this way only when suable mal are not prent.

In other words, rearchers assumed that homosexual behavr only happens when animals are isolated om members of the oppose sex. Therefore, acrdg to experts, many female Japane maqu nnot be nsired eher preferentially homo- or heterosexual. On the other hand, bee female maqu will reproduce wh mal throughout their lifetime regardls of their tert homosexual behavr, the end the relatnships do not acce any st to lifetime reproductn.

GAY ANIMALS: ALTERNATE LIFTYL THE WILD

But new rearch shows that even the direct benefs are not required for the persistence of homosexual behavr animals. But forays to animal homosexualy rearch long predate Levick, wh observatns published as far back as the 1700s and 1800s.

5 ANIMAL SPECI THAT ARE TOTALLY GAY

More than 200 years later, rearch has moved past some of the taboos those early rearchers faced and shown that homosexualy is much more mon than prevly thought. Rearchers are now gog beyond jt observg though, wh rearchers at Imperial leadg the way unravellg how, and why, homosexualy is found across nature.

This suggts that homosexual activy is not a recent human nstct, cultural or even evolutnary terms, but stead occurs along many branch on the tree of life.

THE FABULO KGDOM OF GAY ANIMALS

Scientists argued homosexualy was a sort of 'Darwian paradox' bee volved sexual behavur that was non-reproductive. In 2016, Savolaen started some work on animal homosexualy, begng wh a chapter on the Evolutn of Homosexualy.

In 1896, French entomologist Henri Ga Kerville published one of the first scientific illtratns of animal homosexualy. Female homosexualy has been well studied Japane maqu, but Clive's rearch would exame how homosexual behavur differs mal and across environments.

Rerdg homosexual behavur the wild and llectg blood sampl are the first steps for Clive; the next is sequencg DNA to search for nnectns between the behavur and geic markers. This ia stemmed om a study showg a rrelatn between geic marker Xq28 and male homosexualy, although there were statistil uncertati about some of the fdgs.

GAY ANIMALS

Then they n see what this should look like the real blogil and heredary factors of homosexualy are most certaly not tied to a sgle gene. Meanwhile, others pos that homosexualy uld also play a role evolutn through -parentg or helpg to raise relativ' offsprg. The explanatns are not exclive of one another, and is likely that a batn of factors are important for the evolutn of homosexualy.

Importantly, this will clu exploratn of homosexual partners the hope of unrstandg different mate-choice strategi reproductive and non-reproductive ntexts.

Versluys says: "Homosexualy is still somethg that's not always well unrstood among the scientific muny and maybe even more poorly unrstood among the general populatn. And spe the acknowledgement of how wispread homosexualy is nature, rearchers have to ntend wh a arth of rearch that should have been built up over s. (Image cred: © Chris Johnson – earthOCEAN)Homosexualy has been documented more than 450 speci of vertebrat signalg that sexual preference is blogilly termed animals.

GAY ANIMALS OUT OF THE CLOSET?

Mal also take to homosexual play but tend to leave their partner soon after, makg what we ll the human world a one night stand. (Image cred: © Chris Johnson – earthOCEAN)Homosexual activy occurs wh about the same equency as heterosexual play amongst the mare mammals.