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The evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals

An interesting paper by a MNat team has appeared in Nature Communications.


Gómez, J.M., Gónzalez-Megías, A. & Verdú, M. Nat Commun14, 5719 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41290-x



Abstract:


Same-sex sexual behaviour has attracted the attention of many scientists working in disparate areas, from sociology and psychology to behavioural and evolutionary biology. Since it does not contribute directly to reproduction, same-sex sexual behaviour is considered an evolutionary conundrum. Here, using phylogenetic analyses, we explore the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour

in mammals. According to currently available data, this behaviour is not randomly distributed across mammal lineages, but tends to

be particularly prevalent in some clades, especially primates. Ancestral reconstruction suggests that same-sex sexual behaviour may have evolved multiple times, with its appearance being a recent phenomenon in most mammalian lineages. Our phylogenetically informed analyses testing for associations between same-sex sexual behaviour and other species characteristics suggest that it may play an adaptive role in maintaining social relationships and mitigating conflict.


Ranking

99th percentile (ranked 73th) of the 254,977 tracked articles of a similar age in all journals

99th percentile (ranked 3th) of the 1,763 tracked articles of a similar age in Nature Communications


Altmetric at November 1st 2023



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