The biology of same sex relationships...

[Peikko 1,575]

Birds do it. Bees probably do it. No one's sure whether educated fleas do it. What they do is have same-sex relationships and, in a new review of published research on the subject, biologists have started to consider what it might mean for the evolution of the animals in question.

Nathan Bailey and Marlene Zuk, biologists at the University of California, Riverside, found that same-sex relationships were a universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, seen in everything from worms to frogs to birds. "It's clear that same-sex sexual behavior extends far beyond the well-known examples that dominate both the scientific and popular literature: for example bonobos, dolphins, penguins and fruit flies," said Bailey.

Penguins have been known to form long-term same-sex bonds where males will engage in sexual activity. Toads generally don't discriminate between sexes while marine snails all start out male and, when they mate with another male, one of them helpfully changes sex. Dolphins will often touch their genitals together or one male might even mount another and penetrate its blowhole. Bonobos go the furthest in same-sex bonding with regular copulation among males.

But not all relationships should be considered the same. A male fruit fly, for example, may court other males because it lacks a gene that allows it to tell the difference between the sexes. "But that is very different from male bottlenose dolphins, who engage in same-sex interactions to facilitate group bonding, or female Laysan albatross that can remain pair-bonded for life and cooperatively rear young," said Bailey.

Writing in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, the authors said that lots of previous studies had considered how same-sex relationships might have come about but very few studies had considered whether the relationships shape the course of evolution.

"Same-sex behaviors – courtship, mounting or parenting – are traits that may have been shaped by natural selection, a basic mechanism of evolution that occurs over successive generations," Bailey said. "But our review of studies also suggests that these same-sex behaviors might act as selective forces in and of themselves."

In other words same-sex relationships might shape evolution in subtle and important ways for many animals. When bilogists think about selective pressure in evolution, they tend to focus on environmental concerns such as weather, temperature, or geographic features in a particular locality. Social circumstances can also have an impact and Bailey argues that same-sex relationships could "radically change those social circumstances, for example by removing some individuals from the pool of animals available for mating."

In addition, the behaviour can lead to the evolution of defence mechanisms. "For example, male-male copulations in locusts can be costly for the mounted male, and this cost may in turn increase selection pressure for males' tendency to release a chemical called panacetylnitrile, which dissuades other males from mounting them," said Bailey.

Bailey and Zuk are also researching the Laysan albatross, a species in which females form same-sex pairs and rear young together. "Same-sex behavior in this species may not be aberrant, but instead can arise as an alternative reproductive strategy," they said.

Almost a third of Laysan albatross couples are female-female pairs and they are more successful than unpaired females when it comes to rearing chicks.

"Same-sex sexual behaviors are flexibly deployed in a variety of circumstances, for example as alternative reproductive tactics, as cooperative breeding strategies, as facilitators of social bonding or as mediators of intrasexual conflict. Once this flexibility is established, it becomes in and of itself a selective force that can drive selection on other aspects of physiology, life history, social behaviour and even morphology," said Bailey.

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[alienlovechild 75]

Nature should guide all our social policies. Knowing that some species have males paired with multiple females at the same time, sounds like we need more openess for polygamy.

Hopefully, you haven't taken up the mating stratgies of the black widow or praying mantis.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Ah but you don't need to be married to do any of that. Do multiple women want to be married to a single "stud" male?

It seems questionable...

[Peikko 1,575]

Yes, clearly this article is about social policy formation.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

mc, you have our permission to engage in a lesbian relationship. it's ok.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Nature should guide all our social policies. Knowing that some species have males paired with multiple females at the same time, sounds like we need more openess for polygamy.

Hopefully, you haven't taken up the mating stratgies of the black widow or praying mantis.

I think someone missed the point.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It is interesting though - that it could be an evolutionary mechanism.

Of course it does provide potential to create some pretty appalling discrimination, not that there isn't a lot of it about already.

[alienlovechild 75]

Ah but you don't need to be married to do any of that. Do multiple women want to be married to a single "stud" male?

Got me there. It doesn't need to legalized to happen and takes place a lot in segments of society.

I think someone missed the point.

Care to elaborate, professor?

[Kar98 0]

Nature should guide all our social policies. Knowing that some species have males paired with multiple females at the same time, sounds like we need more openess for polygamy.

Hopefully, you haven't taken up the mating stratgies of the black widow or praying mantis.

I think someone missed the point.

So what, if anything, was the point then? Dogs hump anything they see, and poop in other people's yard. Yay, nature! So it's only natural if we do that, too?

Edited June 18, 2009 by Kar98

[Peikko 1,575]

The point is that things like this are interesting and can be broadly educational. Who knew?

[The_Dude 1,142]

Nature should guide all our social policies. Knowing that some species have males paired with multiple females at the same time, sounds like we need more openess for polygamy.

Hopefully, you haven't taken up the mating stratgies of the black widow or praying mantis.

I think someone missed the point.

So what, if anything, was the point then? Dogs hump anything they see, and poop in other people's yard. Yay, nature! So it's only natural if we do that, too?

The point is that homosexuality isn't quite the aberation of nature that some people like to think it is. That this is somethign that occurs in nature, beyond the scope of ** sapiens as well.

[alienlovechild 75]

The point is that homosexuality isn't quite the aberation of nature that some people like to think it is. That this is somethign that occurs in nature, beyond the scope of ** sapiens as well.

I've heard that line of reasoning for years but never a rebuttual. The idea if it occurs in nature humans should be allowed to do it, too, is beyond silly. I like the dog example as I think even most liberals are a notch above that.

Are there any behaviors found in nature that you wouldn't want to legalize?

[Peikko 1,575]

Hold your horses there Alien!

Are you suggesting now that same sex relationships are natural (as in common in a plurality of species) but somehow not suitable for human beings? Explain, exactly, why this is so, please?

[alienlovechild 75]

Are you suggesting now that same sex relationships are natural (as in common in a plurality of species) but somehow not suitable for human beings? Explain, exactly, why this is so, please?

No problemo. Same sex marriage is as ok as polygamy, bestiality or wanting to marrying your car. There are boundaries as long as no one is forced.

[Peikko 1,575]

That is not an explanation, that is a diatribe. Did I expect anything different? Rhetorically, no.