A new study from the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal has observed same-sex behaviors among 59 non-human species, proving that homosexual behavior exists in nature beyond human experience. The study found that beyond humans, primate species like bonobos, chimpanzees, macaques and more engage in same-sex behaviors repeatedly.
According to NBC News, the findings pose a question to common assumptions about the purpose of sex in the animal world, suggesting it plays a social role as well as being a means of species reproduction. Researchers behind the study propose that same-sex behavior developed evolutionarily to help primates in complex social groups ease tension, reduce conflict, and build bonds. The effects of genetics and external stress motivate these behaviors, they concluded.
The research analyzes data from observations of 491 primate species with attention to documented instances of same-sex sexual engagements. “What we found shows that same-sex behavior is not something bizarre, aberrant or rare. It’s everywhere, it’s very useful, it’s very important,” said an author of the study Vincent Savolainen, director of the Georgina Mace Center for the Living Planet at Imperial College London.
The report found that same-sex behavior was more common when animals were in need of social cohesion to adapt to harsher environmental conditions. It was also observed to be more common in social groups with firm hierarchies. Savolainen described these behaviors as social currency that some primates might use to find their place in a group, share resources, and increase opportunities. “People haven’t realized same-sex, as a behavior, is as important for the functioning of a society as feeding, fighting, making babies, and looking after your offspring,” Savolainen added.
