Study Suggests Same-Sex Attraction Evolved in Mammals to Reduce Conflict
A new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications suggests that same-sex attraction might have evolved to keep the peace. And honestly, that could explain a lot.
As reported by the New York Times, scientists studied more than 1,500 animal species, including crickets, sea urchins, bottlenose dolphins and bonobos, and tracked their same-sex behavior encounters. What they found is that same-sex attraction behavior might have evolved when mammals began living in social groups, according to study author José Gómez, of the Experimental Station of Arid Zones in Almería, Spain.
"(Same-sex attraction) may contribute to establishing and maintaining positive social relationships," said Gómez. "With the current data available, it seems that it has evolved multiple times."
Although the evolution produced no genes or characteristics that can be passed on to offspring, Gómez proposed that same-sex behavior might have evolved several times over time to reduce conflicts.
However, Gómez cautions against using the study's finding's to make a connection to sexual orientation in human beings.
"The type of same-sex sexual behavior we have used in our analysis is so different from that observed in humans that our study is unable to provide an explanation for its expression today," he said.
"Males and females were about equally likely to be observed carrying out same-sex sexual behavior, the analysis showed," NYT reports. "In some species, only one sex did. But in still others — including cheetahs and white-tailed deer — both males and females engaged in same-sex sexual behavior."
Apes, however, seemed to have evolved a higher rate of same-sex sexual behavior than older species of primates, such as lemurs.
"For anyone familiar with the literature, I don't think it is a huge surprise to see that same-sex sexual behavior is related to sociality," said Paul Vasey, a primatologist at the University of Lethbridge who was not involved in the study. "It is nice to see this conclusion supported by the methods used by the authors."
Read the full story at NYT.