Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity

Graves, G. R. (1996) “Comments on a Probable Gynandromorphic Black-throated Blue Warbler,” Wilson Bulletin 108:178-80; Stratton, G. E. (1995) “A Gynandromorphic Schizocosa (Araneae, Lycosidae),” Journal of Arachnology 23:130-33; Patten, M. A. (1993) “A Probable Gynandromorphic Black-throated Blue Warbler,” Wilson Bulletin 105:695-98; Kumerloeve, H. (1987) “Le gynandromorphisme chez les oiseaux—récapitulation des données connues,” Alauda 55:1-9; Dexter, R. W. (1985) “Nesting History of a Banded Hermaphroditic Chimney Swift,” North American Bird Bander 10:39; Hannah-Alava, A. (1960) “Genetic Mosaics,” Scientific American 202(5):118-30; Kumerloeve, H. (1954) “On Gynandromorphism in Birds,” Emu 54:71-72.

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Fredga, K. (1994) “Bizarre Mammalian Sex-Determining Mechanisms,” in R. V. Short and E. Balaban, eds., The Differences Between the Sexes, pp. 419-31 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press); Ishihara, M. (1994) “Persistence of Abnormal Females That Produce Only Female Progeny with Occasional Recovery to Normal Females in Lepidoptera,” Researches on Population Ecology 36:261-69.

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Moles (Jimenez, R., M. Burgos, L. Caballero, and R. Diaz de la Guardia [1988] “Sex Reversal in a Wild Population of Talpa occidentalis [Insectivora, Mammalia],” Genetical Research 52[2]:135-40; McVean, G., and L. D. Hurst [1996] “Genetic Conflicts and the Paradox of Sex Determination: Three Paths to the Evolution of Female Intersexuality in a Mammal,” Journal of Theoretical Biology 179:199-211); mole voles (Fredga, “Bizarre Mammalian Sex-Determining Mechanisms”); Orang-utan (Dutrillaux et al. 1975; Turleau et al. 1975); Hanuman Langur (Egozcue 1972).

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Johnsgard, Arena Birds, p. 242.

56

On the cassowary mating system, see Crome, F. H. J. (1976) “Some Observations on the Biology of the Cassowary in Northern Queensland,” Emu 76:8-14.

57

There are actually three distinct, but closely related, species of cassowaries; this genital configuration is based on descriptions of the moruk or Bennett’s cassowary (Casuarius bennettii) in King, A. S. (1981) “Phallus,” in A. S. King and J. McLelland, eds., Form and Function in Birds, vol. 2, pp. 107-47 (London: Academic Press). Males and females of a number of other birds, including related flightless species such as Ostriches and Rheas, as well as ducks and geese, also possess a similar genital/anal configuration. Incidentally, the phallus /clitoris of the cassowary (as well as of these other birds) consistently bends to the left when erect (owing to the asymmetrical arrangement of its internal tissues), and males are said to mount females from the left side because of the curvature of their organs. These anatomical and behavioral facts suggest an interesting parallel to Native American beliefs about the left-handedness of (gender-mixing) Bears. Although there are no reports of indigenous New Guinean beliefs about “left-sidedness” in cassowaries, the Arapesh people do represent the cassowary mother figure as the left foot of an ancestral spirit (Tuzin, The Cassowary’s Revenge, p. 115); the existence of other such connections is worth investigating.

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Callender and Kochems, “The North American Berdache,” pp. 448-49; Roscoe, Changing Ones, p. 9; Allen, “Ritualized Homosexuality, Male Power, and Political Organization in North Vanuatu,” p. 117; American Bison (Roe 1970:63-64); Savanna (Chacma) Baboon (Marais 1922/1969:205-6; Bielert et al. 1980:4-5); Hooded Warbler (Niven 1993:191 [cf. Lynch et al. 1985:718]); Northern Elephant Seal (Le Boeuf 1974:173); Red Deer (Darling 1937:170); Black-headed Gull (van Rhijn 1985:87, 100); Common Garter Snake (Mason and Crews 1985:59; Mason 1993:264); Bighorn Sheep (Berger 1985:334). “Hypermasculinity” also characterizes (some forms of) male homosexuality in other cultures, most notably contemporary North America. As one recent observer of the gay scene comments, “It’s like a very intense male bonding thing … it’s the ultimate in masculinity. People think faggots are queers; they’re fairies. No way. They’re more men than anybody, ‘cause they’re totally homoerotic. How much more masculine can you get?” (“Walter,” quoted in Devor, H. [1997] FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society, p. 504 [Bloomington: Indiana University Press]).

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Wilson, E. O. (1992) The Diversity of Life (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap/Harvard University Press). For another example of a New Guinean (Fore) indigenous bird taxonomy that nearly matches that of western ornithologists, see Diamond, J. (1966) “Zoological Classification System of a Primitive People,” Science 151:1102-4.

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