Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity

Gorilla (Fischer and Nadler 1978:660-61); Western Gull (Hunt et al. 1984:160); Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock (Trail 1985a:238, 240); Red Fox (Macdonald 1987:101); de Waal 1989a:25 (Bonobo). For descriptions of nonstandard mounting positions (lateral, head-to-tail) in heterosexual contexts, see (for example) Japanese Macaque (Hanby and Brown 1974:156, 164); Boto (Best and da Silva 1989:15); Bottlenose/Spotted Dolphins (Herzing and Johnson 1997:92, 96); Waterbuck (Spinage 1969:41-42); Mountain Sheep (Geist 1971:139— 40); Mountain Goat (Hutchins 1984:268); Takhi (Boyd and Houpt 1994:202); Collared Peccary (Byers and Bekoff 1981:771); Warthog (Cumming 1975:118-19); Koala (Smith 1980c:48); Ruff (Hogan-Warburg 1966:176); Hammerhead (Brown 1982:171; Campbell 1983:11); Flamingo (Shannon 1985:229); Chaffinch (Marler 1956:114); red-winged blackbird (Monnett, C., L. M. Rotterman, C. Worlein, and K. Halupka [1984] “Copulation Patterns of Red-winged Blackbirds [Agelaius phoeniceus],” p.759, American Naturalist 124:757— 64). Of these, subjective or derogatory terms are only used in Monnett et al. 1984 (“abnormal,” “aberrant”) and Hutchins 1984 (“clumsy,” “awkward”). Nonstandard homosexual mounting positions such as sideways or head-to-tail mounts have usually been classified as “mistakes” or “incomplete” mounting attempts by zoologists who insist on viewing homosexual interactions only in terms of how closely they resemble “standard” heterosexual intercourse. In other words, anything that deviates from genital penetration (or cloacal contact in birds) in the front-to-back position used by males with females is an “error.” Because these mounting positions are often used by female animals (when they mount individuals of either sex), a further, sexist, interpretation is also frequently overlaid on these behaviors: it is claimed that they represent an “imperfect” attempt on the part of females to imitate male mounting behavior. An equally valid perspective, however, is that these represent alternative or more “fluid” sexual interchanges—not bound by the “requirement” of genital penetration—rather than flawed imitations of heterosexual postures. A parallel example can be found in the behavior of “sideways presenting” in female Crab-eating Macaques: previously classified as “disoriented” or “inadequate,” this posture was later found to be a systematic behavioral variant (Emory and Harris 1978). For further discussion and a critique of the widespread view that homosexuality is an imperfect approximation of heterosexuality, see chapter 4. For evidence that heterosexual sex is not focused exclusively on vaginal penetration and ejaculation, see chapter 5.

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Laughing Gull (Hand 1981:138-39); Black-headed Gull (van Rhijn and Groothuis 1985:161); Herring Gull (Shugart et al. 1988:934); inclusion of infertile eggs in hatching rates of female pairs: Kovacs and Ryder 1983:661-62, Ryder and Somppi 1979:3 (Ring-billed Gull); Burger, J., and M. Gochfield (1996) “Laridae (Gulls),” p. 584, in J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds., Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3, Hoatzin to Auks, pp. 572-623 (Barcelona: Lynx Edicións); shared characteristics of heterosexual and homosexual supernormal clutches: Kovacs and Ryder 1983:660-62, Lagrenade and Mousseau 1983, Ryder and Somppi 1979:3 (Ring-billed Gull and other species) (on the lower productivity of supernormal clutches attended by heterosexual pairs in species other than Gulls, see Sordahl, T. A. [1997] “Breeding Biology of the American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt in Northern Utah,” pp. 350, 352, Southwestern Naturalist 41:348— 54); equivalent parenting abilities of homosexual and heterosexual pairs: Hunt and Hunt 1977:1467, Hayward and Fry 1993:17-18 (Western Gull); Conover 1989:148 (Ring-billed Gull); Nisbet et al. 1998:314 (Roseate Tern); “runaways” from heterosexual parents: Pierotti and Murphy 1987 (Western Gull and other species); Brown et al. 1995 (Ring-billed Gull); Roberts and Hatch 1994 (Kittiwake).

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Gray Whale (Darling 1977:10—11).

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In fact, it can safely be said that no scientific study of wild animals has yet been undertaken with the expectation that homosexual activity would be observed—same-sex behavior is invariably a “surprise.” In contrast, many a field study has been initiated for the express purpose of studying heterosexual mating—and has quite often been treated to the unexpected occurrence of same-sex activity and/or the absence (or rarity) of opposite-sex interactions.

28

Laughing Gull (Burger and Beer 1975:312); Common Murre (Hatchwell 1988:167); Kittiwake (Chardine 1986:1416, 1987:516); Griffon Vulture (Blanco and Martinez 1996:247).

29

Grebes (Nuechterlein and Storer 1989:344—45).

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