Study finds same-sex sexual behaviour in primates and other mammals widely observed but seldom published
George Murray Levick, an explorer with the Scott Antarctic expedition, spent the summer of 1911-12 taking detailed notes on the breeding cycle of Adélie penguins. Male penguins, he was surprised to discover, frequently had sex with other males, but this fact was deemed too shocking for inclusion in the official expedition report and it was another 50 years before it was noted in the scientific literature.
Of 65 researchers working on 52 different species, 77% had observed same-sex sexual behaviour, such as mounting or genital stimulation, but only 48% had collected data and just 19% had published their findings, according to the study inCertain species, such as penguins and Japanese macaque monkeys, have become poster animals for same-sex couplings, but tend to be presented as outliers.
Josh Davis, of the Natural History Museum in London and author of A Little Gay Natural History, said: “Around 1,500 species have been observed showing homosexual behaviours, but this is certainly an underestimate because it’s seen in almost every branch of the evolutionary tree – spiders, squids, monkeys.
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