Homosexual sexual behavior has been observed in many non-human species around the world. It’s now a widely recognized phenomenon, but a new study suggests there’s a significant gap between how common this behavior is and how often it’s reported. According to this work, researchers often see same-sex sexual behavior in the mammals they study, but rarely publish information about it.
Homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom
Essentially, same-sex sexual behavior refers to any sexual act – including mounting, sexual penetration, oral sexual contact or any other form of sexual stimulation – between members of the same sex.
Homosexual behavior is extremely common and widespread among animal species, Josh Davis, of the Natural History Museum in London and author of A bit of gay natural history explained to IFLScience.
“Although it has only been officially recorded for around 1,500 species, this figure is probably greatly underestimated. Indeed, it is found in almost every branch of the evolutionary tree, from beetles and butterflies to turtles and squirrels. The idea that it is limited to just a few hundred species out of the 2.13 million described to date is incredibly unlikely. .”
Explanations for the evolutionary value of this behavior vary, Davis added, depending on the animal examined. For example, “the behavioral signals of flies will be different from those of primates.”
“Overall, it has been suggested that same-sex behaviors could be beneficial in many areas, including social cohesion, stress release, and even simple pleasure.”
But despite their frequency and pervasiveness, homosexual sexual behavior is not often reported in the scientific literature. So what’s going on?
Publication on homosexuality in animals
According to a new study published by Karyn A. Anderson, an anthropology graduate student at the University of Toronto, and colleagues, the lack of studies on same-sex sexual behavior may stem from the misperception that it is rare and therefore difficult to study. systematically. In the past, this belief that it is rare was also mixed with contemporary moralistic ideas which considered it deviant and “unnatural”. Of course, such thinking has often been deployed in ethical debates about homosexuality in humans.
“Historically, there were certainly fears that if a researcher published about these behaviors they might in turn be associated with them, but in modern times it appears there are other factors at play,” said Davis at IFLScience.
Even though attitudes have changed throughout the 20th century, the “rare” hypothesis has persisted in the scientific literature, despite the number of recorded cases which continues to increase. What is missing is a systematic approach, but there may be reasons why this has not yet been done.
The move by journals away from publishing brief, anecdotal observations is a widespread problem in behavioral ecology, because it means that occasional but interesting behaviors – like homosexuality – often go unreported.
Josh Davis
Anderson and his international team of colleagues believe that certain methodological challenges, as well as this pervasive belief about the rarity of this behavior, may explain the gap in publications on this topic.
Their analysis showed that of 65 researchers examining 52 different species, 77 percent observed same-sex sexual behavior, but only 48 percent collected data on it. Furthermore, only 19 percent of researchers published their results.
Interestingly, those interviewed in the research indicated that their work was not influenced by socio-political factors. Instead, the responses generally fell into three categories: first, they were unable to collect data due to competing research priorities; second, that the publication topics were not based on data related to that topic; and third, that the behavior was too rare or “anecdotal” to be considered newsworthy.
This last point is important because it highlights a bias within the publishing industry around anecdotal evidence – if it’s not “common”, it’s irrelevant. For example, in the field of primatology, such as 21st Over the century, there has been a shift towards quantitative and statistical approaches, preferred to short stories or anecdotal accounts.
“The movement away from journals away from publishing brief, anecdotal observations is a widespread problem in behavioral ecology, because it means that occasional but interesting behaviors – such as homosexuality – often go unreported,” he said. Davis said.
Anecdotes are extremely important for the study of things like same-sex sexual behavior, Anderson and colleagues also conclude, because they help us understand their relevance to the study of sexual behavior more generally.
“The availability of anecdotal reports of (homosexual sexual behaviors) therefore benefits the scientific community and allows us to better understand the variability and distribution of (homosexual sexual behaviors) among mammals,” they write.
Expert surveys are therefore useful tools in wildlife biology, underlines the team, particularly with regard to behaviors that are infrequent or considered rare. “Indeed, we found the use of an expert survey important, even necessary, given that most respondents did not publish their observations (of same-sex sexual behavior) in their studied species. Expert surveys provide us with a tool to access and examine these behaviors on a larger scale.
Only through anecdotal reports and expert surveys can we see how widespread same-sex sexual behavior is. Although this study draws on a relatively small pool of respondents, it supports the idea that future work should pay more attention to the value of these less fashionable means of collecting and transmitting information, in particularly for supposedly rare behaviors.
The article is published in PLOS ONE.
Read an excerpt from A Little Gay Natural History and our exclusive interview with Josh Davis in the July 2024 issue of CURIOUS.