Homosexuality in Animals

[Superfusion]

There is a lot of research into this and it is part of regular screening of gender dysphoric individuals.

 

It is? Nothing is found in the research? I believe in your case the testosterone is flowing to the brain but it persist? Perhaps its the latter and your brain simply does not react to the testosterone.

 

Humans are very sensitive and have very sensitive brains. Homosexuality is something i have never seen in other animals. I guess with the higher intelligence comes the bigger sensitivity.

[Appolinaria]

 

It is? Nothing is found in the research? I believe in your case the testosterone is flowing to the brain but it persist? Perhaps its the latter and your brain simply does not react to the testosterone.

 

Humans are very sensitive and have very sensitive brains. Homosexuality is something i have never seen in other animals. I guess with the higher intelligence comes the bigger sensitivity.

 

Homosexuality exists in plenty of other animals.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior

[Arete]

Homosexuality is something i have never seen in other animals.

 

Homosexual behavior is documented in over 500 other species.

 

http://en.wikipedia....vior_in_animals

Edited April 5, 2012 by Arete

[Appolinaria]

Beat u.

 

;-)

[Arete]

Beat u.

 

;-)

 

Indeed

 

It's always an amusing counter to the "it's not natural" argument. Homophobia on the other hand is only documented in humans... [/can of worms]

[Superfusion]

Interesting... I wonder why though? Perhaps the same problem with testosterone in the brain or another common problem?

[Appolinaria]

Indeed

 

It's always an amusing counter to the "it's not natural" argument. Homophobia on the other hand is only documented in humans... [/can of worms]

 

Haha, that's an amazing point.

[Arete]

Interesting... I wonder why though? Perhaps the same problem with testosterone in the brain or another common problem?

 

Prehaps it's because having homosexual individuals in a population is evolutionary advantageous under kin selection and inclusive fitness models and the existence of a percentage of homosexual humans in a given population is perfectly natural/ not a problem?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusive_fitness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kin_selection

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100205/Kin-selection-hypothesis-may-explain-homosexuality-from-an-evolutionary-point-of-view.aspx

[Superfusion]

But what you find there is why is it advangeous? If they maintain homosexuality they cannot effectively produce. With everything known people desire to do so. Maybe not just to reproduce but what you use to do so attracts people.

[Arete]

But what you find there is why is it advangeous? If they maintain homosexuality they cannot effectively produce. With everything known people desire to do so. Maybe not just to reproduce but what you use to do so attracts people.

 

"Inclusive fitness: The expansion of the concept of the fitness of a genotype to include benefits accrued to relatives of an individual since relatives share parts of their genomes."

 

http://groups.molbiosci.northwestern.edu/holmgren/Glossary/Definitions/Def-I/inclusive_fitness.html

 

Click the wiki links.

[Superfusion]

"Inclusive fitness: The expansion of the concept of the fitness of a genotype to include benefits accrued to relatives of an individual since relatives share parts of their genomes."

 

http://groups.molbio...ve_fitness.html

 

Click the wiki links.

 

Ok apparently i do not understand, How would it increase their fitness by being that way or doing so?

 

 

Im gonna head off for now we can continue this later.

Edited April 5, 2012 by hypervalent_iodine
Removed thread advertisement.

[hypervalent_iodine]

!

Moderator Note

Split from 'Transgendered Persons'.

Superfusion, thread advertising is not permitted here, so I've removed that part of your post.

[iNow]

This has already been covered here at SFN a few years ago: http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/33922-homosexuality-in-the-animal-kingdom

[Moontanman]

But what you find there is why is it advangeous? If they maintain homosexuality they cannot effectively produce. With everything known people desire to do so. Maybe not just to reproduce but what you use to do so attracts people.

 

 

Ok apparently i do not understand, How would it increase their fitness by being that way or doing so?

 

 

Im gonna head off for now we can continue this later.

 

Superfusion, do you really think that being homosexual prevents a person from reproducing? Even if you are completely homosexual, sexual orientation is usually not an on off switch but more of a spectrum from heterosexual to homosexual with most people being more one than the other, (and some people liking both sexes), people are still able to have sex even it it goes against their sexual orientation and reproduce. In fact men and women when denied sexual partners of suitable sex will often turn to individuals of the same sex for sexual satisfaction as evidenced in same sex environments such as sexually divided schools and or prisons even if they are heterosexual.

 

As for attracting the opposite sex if you are homosexual, do you think homosexual is apparent just from looking at a person? Many if not most homosexuals are not obviously effeminate men or masculine women, most of the time unless you ask you will not know.

 

As for the advantage of being homosexual, to a family group, even if the person doesn't have off spring of their own, they can still provide support for individuals related to them in fact this support with out reproducing can allow this behavior to contribute to reproductive success of related individuals and there by support their own genes especially if resources are limited.

[Superfusion]

Okay but would they even want to reproduce? I see the advantages of it now. I agree to your argument.

[MonDie]

The idea that it could be passed down through kin selection has some support from a study revealing that homosexual males tend to have more fecund female relatives.

This is my own speculation, but if it's multiple genes working together, a male might have all the genes to make him homosexual, whereas his heterosexual brother might only have some of those genes. Nonetheless, his heterosexual brother would still be passing down genes which might result in homosexuality in future generations.

Furthermore, they could be genes that only cause homosexuality under certain environmental conditions, which could be partially responsible for the aforementioned situations where people resort to having sexual relationships with the same sex. That would also bring kin selection into play.

 

The Bonobo chimps are bisexual, and they're closely related to us.

Edited April 6, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die