Homosexuality and bisexuality commonplace in thousands of animal species and may play key role in evolution, research finds
They argue a combination of same-sex sexual behaviours (SSBs) and different-sex sexual behaviours (DSBs) is an original condition for all sexually producing animals — and that these tendencies likely evolved in the earliest forms of sexual behaviour. The authors suggest not only that same-sex behaviours are often “not costly”, but can in fact be advantageous from a natural selection perspective because individuals are more likely to mate with more partners. Many species aren’t inherently monogamous but instead try to mate with more than one individual. In many species it can be difficult for individuals to even discern between different sexes. “So, if you’re too picky in targeting what you think is the opposite sex, you just mate with fewer individuals. On the other hand, if you’re less picky and engage in both SSB and DSB, you can mate with more individuals in general, including individuals of a different sex,” said co-author Max Lambert, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California-Berkeley’s Departmental of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.
Plausible? So, rather than being some possibly deviant behaviour evolving over time, a remnant of the big bang (more natural background behaviour dying out over time) - perhaps.
They argue a combination of same-sex sexual behaviours (SSBs) and different-sex sexual behaviours (DSBs) is an original condition for all sexually producing animals — and that these tendencies likely evolved in the earliest forms of sexual behaviour. The authors suggest not only that same-sex behaviours are often “not costly”, but can in fact be advantageous from a natural selection perspective because individuals are more likely to mate with more partners. Many species aren’t inherently monogamous but instead try to mate with more than one individual. In many species it can be difficult for individuals to even discern between different sexes. “So, if you’re too picky in targeting what you think is the opposite sex, you just mate with fewer individuals. On the other hand, if you’re less picky and engage in both SSB and DSB, you can mate with more individuals in general, including individuals of a different sex,” said co-author Max Lambert, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California-Berkeley’s Departmental of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.
Plausible? So, rather than being some possibly deviant behaviour evolving over time, a remnant of the big bang (more natural background behaviour dying out over time) - perhaps.