Wayne and Ecolog-L, I recall reading some time ago about a hypothesis that homosexuality in populations is or may be a response to heightened population density, implying that it is an innate stratagem to reduce reproduction while maintaining adult productivity. Anyone know anything about this?
Warren W. Aney Tigard, Oregon (503) 539-1009 -----Original Message----- From: Wayne Tyson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, 27 March, 2013 11:53 To: Warren W. Aney; [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Expedition notice and question Warren and Ecolog: As a stock-farmer's son, I have seen plenty of what appears to us to be homosexual behavior among, for example, cows and bulls and ducks and dogs, but I have never witnessed actual penetration, nor have I witnessed any cases where bulls eschew cows in favor of sex with bulls. Homosexual in the sense that it occurs in humans is the center of my interest, and anything that is relevant to that question is of interest to me, including anecdotes. "Mounting" of other bulls has long been considered dominance behavior, and this occurs in humans who consider themselves heterosexual, as appears to be the case with dogs. Your point is well made about the continuum; Alan Watts once wrote an article entitled (as I recall) "The Circle of Sex." That, or anything else I have read, does not address my intentionally restricted question. WT ----- Original Message ----- From: "Warren W. Aney" <[email protected]> To: "'Wayne Tyson'" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 10:30 AM Subject: RE: [ECOLOG-L] Expedition notice and question > Wayne, I once had a beef cow that refused to mate with a bull -- she did > lactate and help nurture another cow's calf. The cow may have been > homosexual or asexual. I've heard livestock owners say that cows > frequently > display homosexual behavior (mounting other cows) but a cow exhibiting > excessive homosexual behavior including avoiding bills is usually sold for > slaughter. > As I understand it, in nature (including humans) there is a wide and > continuous spectrum of sexual behavior ranging from pure heterosexuality > to > bisexuality to pure homosexuality, and this range of behaviors is further > modified by a varying continuum of sexual intensity from hypersexuality to > asexuality. > > Warren W. Aney > Tigard, Oregon > (503) 539-1009 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Wayne Tyson > Sent: Wednesday, 27 March, 2013 10:32 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Expedition notice and question > > [NOTE:] I will be on expedition (with a stop at the National Native Seed > Conference in Santa Fe NM on April 10) until the two weeks at the end of > April and the first week of May, then gone again beginning the 2nd week of > May until around May 24. I will not be checking email during those > periods, > but will respond to as many email messages as possible during those > hiatuses. A third expedition following those is likely, but the period of > hiatus is iffy.] > > Here is my parting question. Please feel free to post it on other lists. > > Re: Homosexuality in animals other than Homo sapiens. We know that > homosexual behavior occurs in other species in some forms (Bonobo > chimpanzees [Pan paniscus], for example), and we know that hermaphrodites > of > some species fertilize each other simultaneously. But my question is in > which species other than humans, does EXCLUSIVE homosexuality, especially > in > the form of pair bonds, occur? > > WT > > I'll pick up my answers in late April. If I have time, I may be able to > respond to some today. Please respond on-list, and not to me personally. > > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1430 / Virus Database: 2641/5707 - Release Date: 03/27/13 >
