Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity

Hanuman Langur (Srivastava et al. 1991:506–7); for a similar assessment with regard to homosexual activity between males in this species, see Weber and Vogel (1970:77–78). See also Rowell (1967a:23), who states that “sexual” and “dominance” mounts in Savanna (Yellow) Baboons are virtually indistinguishable, and Enomoto (1990:473), who remarks on the difficulty of discriminating between sexual and ritualized dominance mounting in Bonobos because of the gradation between the two. Weinrich (Sexual Landscapes, p. 294), in discussing mounting between male Mountain Sheep, also points out how sexuality and dominance can both be part of the same behavior and suggests an analogy with human sexuality. Indeed, elements of consensual “dominance” or power-play, although rarely acknowledged, are often a part of human lovemaking and sexual pleasure, ranging along a continuum from gentle “love bites” to full sadomasochism (and nonconsensual dominance also figures prominently in many human sexual interactions, especially heterosexual ones).

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Japanese Macaque (Wolfe 1986:268); Rhesus Macaque (Akers and Conaway 1979:78); Greylag Goose (Lorenz 1991:206); Black-winged Stilt (Kitagawa 1989:65, 69) (see also the distinction between same-sex courtship and aggressive/appeasing kantling in Ostriches [Sauer 1972:731; Bertram 1992:15, 50–51]). For species such as these that have a clear distinction between mounts in sexual and nonsexual contexts, only the former are considered (in this book and in most sources) to be homosexual behavior. As noted in chapter 1, some species classified by Dagg (1984) as exhibiting homosexuality (e.g., bush squirrels and degus) are excluded from our roster on the basis of this criterion, because all same-sex mounting in these species appears to fall into this genuinely nonsexual category; see Viljoen, S. (1977) “Behavior of the Bush Squirrel, Paraxerus cepapi cepapi,” Mammalia 41:119—66; Fulk, G. W. (1976) “Notes on the Activity, Reproduction, and Social Behavior of Octodon degus,” Journal of Mammology 57:495–505.

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Walrus (Miller 1975:607); Gray Seal (Anderson and Fedak 1985); Oystercatcher (Ens, B. J., and J. D. Goss-Custard [1986] “Piping as a Display of Dominance by Wintering Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus,” Ibis 128:382—91). Early observers of this species (e.g., Makkink 1942) misinterpreted the piping display as a courtship activity because it often occurs between males and females.

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For details of the way that dominance is expressed in these species, see Savanna (Yellow) Baboon (Maxim and Buettner-Janusch 1963:169); Hamadryas Baboon (Stammbach, E. [1978] “On Social Differentiation in Groups of Captive Female Hamadryas Baboons,” Behavior 67:322-38); Bottlenose Dolphin (Samuels and Gifford 1997); Killer Whale (Rose 1992:108-9); Caribou (Espmark, J. [1964] “Studies in Dominance-Subordination Relationship in a Group of Semi-Domestic Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.),” Animal Behavior 12:420-26); Blackbuck (Dubost and Feer 1981:97-100); Wolf (Zimen 1976, 1981); Bush Dog (Macdonald 1996); Spotted Hyena (Frank 1986:1511); Grizzly Bear (Craighead et al. 1995:109ff); Black Bear (Stonorov and Stokes 1972:235, 242); Red-necked Wallaby (Johnson 1989:267); Canada Goose (Collias and Jahn 1959:500-501); Scottish Crossbill (Nethersole-Thompson 1975:53); Black-billed Magpie (Birkhead 1991); Jackdaw (Roell 1978); Acorn Woodpecker (Stanback 1994); Galah (Rowley 1990:57). In Pronghorns, mounting between males was originally claimed to represent a dominance activity (Kitchen 1974), yet more recent studies of dominance in this species have not included same-sex mounting (Bromley 1991).

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In some cases, sexual behaviors other than mounting can be correlated with dominance. For example, grooming between males in Nilgiri Langurs and Crested Black Macaques is often performed by a subordinate animal on a more dominant one. Nevertheless, it is apparent that this activity has a clearly sexual component as well: one or both males may become intensely aroused, developing an erection and even ejaculating during the grooming (see Poirier 1970a:334 for Nilgiri Langurs and Poirier 1964:146—47 for Crested Black Macaques). Similarly, adult (dominant) Bonobos often masturbate or massage the genitals of adolescent (subordinate) males, but again, the activity involves clear sexual stimulation (cf. de Waal 1987, 1995, 1997). Also, Squirrel Monkey genital displays are sometimes correlated with dominance, but there are also cases where the association is less than definitive, or where they occur in clearly sexual contexts between animals of the same sex (cf. Talmage-Riggs and Anschel 1973:70; Travis and Holmes 1974:55; Baldwin and Baldwin 1981:295-97; Castell and Heinrich 1971:187-88).

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