Male Monkeys In Puerto Rico Engage More In Copulation With Other Males Than Females, Study Says

Male rhesus monkeys are found to have engaged more in copulation with each other compared to having intercourse with their female counterparts, a recent study showed.

A report on Live Science said the monkey species, which are inhabiting a tiny island in Puerto Rico, often have intercourse with other males. Scientists reasoned out that this practice could be due to their genetics.

The study further discovered that the copulation between the two males tend to produce more offspring, meaning this helps in the process of breeding among monkeys.

"We find the complete opposite of what people were saying before, which was generally that the more homosexual sex animals have, the less babies they will have," Organismic Biology Professor Vincent Savolainen told Live Science.

Findings of the study

The study, which has been published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, indicated that scientists noticed the same-sex intercourse among 236 male monkeys in the island of Cayo Santiago.

Researchers have recorded how often male monkeys mounted or were mounted by compared to females over three periods in 2017, 2019, and 2020. They discovered that 72% of males had intercourse with each other, while only 46% had copulated with females.

A Dailymail report quoted Jackson Clive, author of the study, saying that "most males were behaviourally bisexual, and that variation in same-sex activity was heritable."

Clive disclosed that there is a probability that male monkeys, which mounted each other, were most likely to support each other during the times of conflict. He further stressed that this is one of the benefits of the same-sex activity among male monkeys.

Read Also: Scientists Unlock A Key Cognitive Ability Of Monkeys

Reasons for the male-to-male copulation

Researchers are still uncertain why male monkeys have more sexual engagements with other males than females.

The researchers, however, underscored the practice's benefits.

Clive said that the same-sex sexual behaviors could be common among other animals, adding that the practice can actually evolve.

Savolainen said the research is aiming to advance and develop the scientific understanding of same-sex, including exploring the benefits it brings to nature and within animal societies.

According to a report posted on New Scientist, the homosexual behavior has appeared to be widespread among male macaque monkeys in the wild. It noted that the trait could be at least partially passed down in genes from father to son.

An entry in PETA UK said that other animals have also engaged in homosexual intercourse, and not just monkeys. These animals include elephants, giraffes, albatrosses, and lions.

For one, homosexual copulation among giraffes make up 90% of all observed sexual activity in these animals.

Further, experts also noticed the act of male lions nuzzling, caressing, and mounting each other, which shows engagement in same-sex sexual relations.

On the other hand, PETA UK also said same-sex relationship have also been documented between albatrosses. There were instances before wherein a male albatross had failed in his moves toward a female albatross, prompting other males to approach him.

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