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In golden snub-nosed monkeys, sexual interactions between individuals of the same sex seem to fortify social bonds. Credit: Thomas Marent\/Nature Picture Library<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Same-sex sexual behaviour is part of the normal social life of some primates and could play an important part in their long-term success, a survey of nearly 500 species of apes, monkeys and other non-human primates has found.<\/p>\n
The study, published on 12 January in Nature Ecology and Evolution, suggests that same-sex sexual behaviour in wild populations might be a response to harsh environments, predation and navigating complex social hierarchies1<\/a>. Observed behaviours included mounting, genital touching and fellatio.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people have long regarded same-sex behaviour as an accident, or rare, or only in zoo animals,\u201d says co-author Vincent Savolainen, an evolutionary biologist at Imperial College London. But \u201cit\u2019s part of the normal social life of primates\u201d.<\/p>\n Although a staple of wildlife documentaries, same-sex sexual behaviour in animals has begun to receive serious study only in the past few years. Explanations range from accident \u2014 behavioural spillover when reproduction is dominated by a few individuals \u2014 to adaptation, says Isabelle Winder, an evolutionary anthropologist at Bangor University, UK. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to figure out what the significance is or if there is a significance.\u201d<\/p>\n Strengthening social bonds<\/p>\n