What is strict homosexuality? Coincidentaly, i just saw a TED Talk by iO Tillett Wright 'fifty shades of gay'. It seems even people who are openly gay often do not consider themselves 100% gay if being allowed to answer on a scale. Maybe sexuality is not as categorical as often portrayed. What appears as distinct could be the expression of a continuous trait with thresholds or even part of a mixed strategy.
Mick On 2013-03-28, at 8:08, "Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS" <[email protected]> wrote: > I was referring to strict homosexuality in humans. Granted, there probably > are cases in which children of a (perhaps deceased) sibling or other close > relative would be raised by a homosexual, thus raising his or her inclusive > fitness, but such cases would be rare. The Darwinian fitness of a strict > homosexual is, as a rule, zero. Helpers at the nest do forgo their own > reproduction to help relatives raise offspring, but, as far as I know, there > is no requirement for them to be homosexual. > > Tom Culliney > > From: Jonathan Colburn [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 10:05 AM > To: Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Exclusive homosexuality > > > Hi Tom, > > Respectfully, the Darwinian fitness sounds like inclusive fitness, which is > often measured by reproductive success. However, reproductive success of a > homosexual is not always a good measure of their inclusive fitness (e.g. > helpers at the nest). Ultimately, any action that staves off fixation of > alleles to zero is about as close as we can come to determining that > something is inclusively fit... > On Mar 28, 2013 9:20 AM, "Culliney, Thomas W - APHIS" > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> > wrote: > I note that the albatross article mentioned the words "natural" and "normal." > Homosexuality certainly is natural, as it occurs in nature, in animals from > groups ranging from arthropods to mammals (who knows what goes on in the > plant kingdom?). In all cases, there appears to be an adaptive reason for the > behavior. However, in its reproductive consequences, exclusive or strict > homosexuality, as exhibited in humans, cannot be considered normal sexual > behavior. The Darwinian fitness of homosexuals is zero. To the extent that > there is a genetic component to the behavior in humans, with their diverse > sexuality, the trait undoubtedly persists in the population largely through > the actions of bisexual individuals leading to the production of offspring. > > The above is an argument strictly from a biological perspective, and is not a > moral judgment. What two consenting adults do in private is their own > business and no one else's. > > Tom Culliney > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] On > Behalf Of Kristen Dybala > Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 10:55 PM > To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Expedition notice and question > > Laysan albatrosses are a fairly well-known example. Here's a (lengthy) > article describing it: > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?pagewanted=all > > -Kristen > > > On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 6:53 PM, Merav Vonshak > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >> This story reminds me of a similar story - a male pair of Griffon >> vultures (Gyps fulvus). They incubated eggs and reared other pairs' >> youngs as part of a breeding in captivity effort in Israel some years ago. >> Merav >> >> Merav Vonshak >> Postdoctoral Fellow >> Gordon Laboratory >> Department of Biology >> Stanford University >> Stanford, CA 94305-5020 >> >> Phone: 650-725-6791<tel:650-725-6791> >> email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> >> http://www.stanford.edu/~mvonshak >> >> On 27, Mar2013, at 12:08 PM, Montblanc, Genie wrote: >> >>> WT, >>> >>> Since I don't study this, I'm giving a, "What I've heard in the news," >> response. There were two stories awhile back, both relating to >> animals in captivity, about homosexual pair bonding. One was with >> penguins, I think they also raised a chick together, and the other was >> with dolphins. Given that long-term pair bonding only occurs in 8-11 >> species in the entire animal kingdom, the question might be moot anyway. >>> >>> That is my inexpert response. Have a great expedition! >>> Génie >>> >>> Eugénie MontBlanc >>> Great Basin Fire Science Delivery Coordinator University of >>> Nevada/Mail Stop 0186, Reno, NV 89557 >>> Phone: 775-784-1107<tel:775-784-1107> (Fax: -1109) >>> Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> >>> Web: www.gbfiresci.org<http://www.gbfiresci.org> >>> Twitter: @GBfirescience >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto: >> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of >> Wayne Tyson >>> Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 10:32 AM >>> To: [email protected]<mailto:[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. >> > > > > -- > ---------------------------------------------------------- > Kristen Dybala, Post-doctoral Researcher Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology > University of California, Davis > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> > (415) 218-9295<tel:%28415%29%20218-9295> - cell > > > > > > This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for > the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the > use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and > subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have > received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email > immediately.
