Cur about homosexualy the animal kgdom? Our article explor the qutn, "Are any animals gay?" Disver the tth about animal sexualy.
Contents:
ARE ANY ANIMALS GAY? THE TTH ABOUT HOMOSEXUALY THE ANIMAL KGDOM
* homosexual in animal kingdom *
*Note: We tentnally do not e terms such as “heterosexual” or “homosexual” to prevent any nflatn between human sexualy and nonhuman animal sexual behavrs. Roy and Silo belong to one of as many as 1, 500 speci of wild and ptive animals that have been observed engagg homosexual activy. Unlike most humans, however, dividual animals generally nnot be classified as gay or straight: an animal that engag a same-sex flirtatn or partnership do not necsarily shun heterosexual enunters.
The observatns suggt to some that bisexualy is a natural state among animals, perhaps Homo sapiens clud, spe the sexual-orientatn boundari most people take for granted. Some of the same fluenc may enurage what some rearchers ll “suatnal homosexualy” humans same-sex settgs such as prisons or sports teams. Then, durg the first half of the 1900s, var vtigators scribed homosexual behavr baboons, garter snak and gentoo pengus, among other speci.
In the Journal of Animal Behavr Haton observed that femal offered sex to the more domant maqu of the same sex: “homosexual behavr is of relatively equent occurrence the female when she is threatened by another female, but is rarely manifted rponse to sexual hunger. ” And mal, he penned, “homosexual allianc between mature and immature mal may posss a fensive value for immature mal, sce they sure the assistance of an adult fenr the event of an attack. “The more homosexualy, the more peaceful the speci, ” asserts Petter Böckman, an amic adviser at the Universy of Oslo’s Mm of Natural History Norway.
GAY MOSW · CY GUI
In other stanc, homosexual bondg between female parents n boost the survival of offsprg when male-female pairgs are not possible. Featherstone of the Universy of Illois at Chigo and his lleagu found that they uld swch on homosexual leangs u fli by manipulatg a gene for a prote they ll “genrbld, ” which regulat munitn between nrons that secrete and rpond to the nrotransmter glutamate. The fdg suggts that wild u fli may be prewired for both heterosexual and homosexual behavr, the thors wre, but that the genrbld prote supprs the glutamate-based circus that promote homosexual behavr.
Phillips of the Universy of Queensland Brisbane, Atralia, and his lleagu observed 43 stanc of homosexual activy among female koalas livg a same-sex enclosure at the Lone Pe Koala Sanctuary. “The homosexual behavr prerv sexual functn, ” Phillips says, enablg an animal to mata s reproductive fns and tert sexual activy. Rearchers have found still other reasons for homosexual behavr domtited ttle—which is such a mon occurrence that farmers and animal breers have veloped terms for .
Homosexual mountg is much rarer among ttle the wild, Phillips asserts, based on his rearch on grs Malaysia, a wild unterpart to domtited ttle. Strs and the greater availabily of same-sex partners may siarly ntribute to the practice of homosexual acts among self-scribed heterosexual humans environments such as the ary, jails and sports teams.