List of mammals displaying homosexual behavior explained

This is a list of mammals for which there is documented evidence of homosexual behavior. These animals have been observed practicing homosexual courtship, sexual behavior, affection, pair bonding, or parenting.

Bruce Bagemihl writes that the presence of same-sex sexual behavior was not officially observed on a large scale until the 1990s due to possible observer bias caused by social attitudes towards LGBT people, which made homosexuality in animals a taboo subject.^{[1] [2]} He devotes three chapters, "Two Hundred Years at Looking at Homosexual Wildlife", "Explaining (Away) Animal Homosexuality", and "Not For Breeding Only" in his 1999 book Biological Exuberance to the "documentation of systematic prejudices" where he notes "the present ignorance of biology lies precisely in its single-minded attempt to find reproductive (or other) "explanations" for homosexuality, transgender, and non-procreative and alternative heterosexualities.^[3] Petter Bøckman, academic adviser for the Against Nature? exhibit, stated "[M]any researchers have described homosexuality as something altogether different from sex. They must realise that animals can have sex with who they will, when they will and without consideration to a researcher's ethical principles". Homosexual behavior is found amongst social birds and mammals, particularly the sea mammals and the primates.^[2]

Animal sexual behavior takes many different forms, even within the same species and the motivations for and implications of their behaviors have yet to be fully understood. Bagemihl's research shows that homosexual behavior, not necessarily sexual activity, has been documented in about 500 species as of 1999, ranging from primates to gut worms.^{[1] [4]} Homosexuality in animals is controversial with some social conservatives because it asserts the naturalness of homosexuality in humans, while others counter that it has no implications and is nonsensical to equate animal behavior to morality.^{[5] [6]} Animal preference and motivation is inferred from behavior, thus homosexual behavior has been given a number of terms over the years. Modern research^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} applies the term homosexuality to all sexual behavior (copulation, genital stimulation, mating games and sexual display behavior) between animals of the same sex.

This is a list of some mammals that have been recorded engaging in homosexual behavior, which is part of a larger list of animals displaying homosexual behavior including birds, insects, fish, etc.

List

• American bison^{[11] [12]}
• Antelope
• Asian elephant^[13]
• Asiatic mouflon^[14]
• Atlantic spotted dolphin
• Australian sea lion^[15]
• Barasingha^[16]
• Barbary sheep^[17]
• Beluga
• Bharal^[18]
• Bighorn sheep^[17]
• Black bear
• Blackbuck^[19]
• Black-footed rock wallaby^[20]
• Black-tailed deer^[16]
• Bonin flying fox^[21]
• Bonnet macaque^[22]
• Bonobo^{[23] [24] [25]}
• Bottlenose dolphin^[26]
• Bowhead whale
• Brazilian guinea pig^[27]
• Bridled dolphin
• Brown bear^[28]
• Brown capuchin^[29]
• Brown long-eared bat^[30]
• Brown rat^[31]
• Buffalo^[17]
• Caribou^[32]
• Cat (domestic)^[33]
• Cattle (domestic)^[34]
• Chacma baboon^[35]
• Cheetah^[13]
• Chimpanzee^[36]
• Chital^[37]
• Collared peccary^[38]
• Commerson's dolphin
• Common brushtail possum^[39]
• Common dolphin
• Common marmoset
• Common pipistrelle^[40]
• Common tree shrew^[41]
• Common wallaroo^[20]
• Cotton-top tamarin^[42]
• Crab-eating macaque^[22]
• Crested black macaque^[22]
• Dall's sheep^[17]
• Daubenton's bat^[30]
• Dog (domestic)^[43]
• Donkey^[44]
• Doria's tree kangaroo^[20]
• Dugong^[45]
• Dwarf cavy^[27]
• Dwarf mongoose^[46]
• Eastern cottontail rabbit
• Eastern grey kangaroo^[20]
• Elk^[16]
• European bison^[11]
• European polecat^[47]
• Fallow deer^[16]
• False killer whale
• Fat-tailed dunnart^[48]
• Fin whale
• Fox^[49]
• François' langur^[50]
• Gazelle^[51]
• Gelada baboon^[52]
• Goat (domestic)^[17]
• Golden monkey^[53]
• Giraffe
• Gorilla^{[54] [55]}
• Grant's gazelle^[51]
• Grey-headed flying fox^[30]
• Grey seal^[15]
• Grey squirrel^[56]
• Grey whale
• Grey wolf^[57]
• Grizzly bear^[28]
• Guinea pig (domestic)^[27]
• Hamadryas baboon^[52]
• Hamster (domestic)^[27]
• Hanuman langur^[58]
• Harbor porpoise^[59]
• Harbor seal^[15]
• Himalayan tahr^[60]
• Hoary marmot^[61]
• Horse (domestic)^[62]
• Human (see Human sexual behavior)
• Humpback whale^[63]
• Indian fruit bat^[30]
• Indian muntjac^[64]
• Indian rhinoceros^[65]
• Japanese macaque^[22]
• Javelina^[66]
• Kangaroo rat
• Killer whale
• Koala^{[67] [68]}
• Kob^[69]
• Larga seal^[15]
• Least chipmunk^[56]
• Lechwe^[69]
• Lesser bushbaby^[70]
• Lion^{[13] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75]}
• Lion-tailed macaque^[22]
• Lion tamarin
• Little brown bat^[30]
• Livingstone's fruit bat^[30]
• Long-eared hedgehog^[76]
• Long-footed tree shrew
• Macaque^[77]
• Markhor^[78]
• Marten^[79]
• Masked palm civet^[80]
• Moco^[81]
• Mohol galago^[70]
• Moor macaque^[22]
• Moose^[82]
• Mountain goat^[17]
• Mountain tree shrew
• Mountain zebra^[83]
• Mouse (domestic)^[84]
• Moustached tamarin
• Mule deer^[16]
• Musk-ox^[85]
• Natterer's bat^[30]
• New Zealand sea lion^[15]
• Nilgiri langur^[58]
• Noctule
• North American porcupine^[86]
• Northern elephant seal^[15]
• Northern fur seal^[15]
• Northern quoll^[48]
• Olympic marmot^[87]
• Orangutan^{[88] [89]}
• Pacific striped dolphin
• Patas monkey^[90]
• Pere David's deer^[16]
• Pig (domestic)^[91]
• Pig-tailed macaque^[22]
• Plains zebra^[92]
• Polar bear^[28]
• Pretty-faced wallaby^[20]
• Proboscis monkey^[53]
• Pronghorn^[93]
• Przewalski's horse^[83]
• Pudú
• Puku^[94]
• Quokka^[95]
• Rabbit^[96]
• Raccoon
• Raccoon dog^[97]
• Red deer^[16]
• Red fox^[98]
• Red kangaroo^[20]
• Red-necked wallaby^[20]
• Red squirrel^[56]
• Reeves's muntjac
• Reindeer^[32]
• Rhesus macaque^[22]
• Right whale
• Rock cavy^[27]
• Rodrigues fruit bat^[30]
• Roe deer^[16]
• Rufous bettong^[99]
• Rufous-naped tamarin^[42]
• Rufous rat kangaroo^[20]
• Saddle-back tamarin^[42]
• Savanna baboon^[52]
• Sea otter^[100]
• Serotine bat^[30]
• Sheep (domestic)^{[17] [101]}
• Siamang^[102]
• Sika deer^[16]
• Slender tree shrew
• Snub-nosed monkey^[103]
• Sooty mangabey
• Sperm whale
• Spider monkey^[104]
• Spinifex hopping mouse
• Spinner dolphin
• Spotted hyena^[105]
• Spotted seal^[15]
• Squirrel monkey^[106]
• Striped dolphin
• Stuart's marsupial mouse^[107]
• Stumptail macaque^[22]
• Swamp deer^[16]
• Swamp wallaby^[20]
• Takhi^[83]
• Talapoin
• Tammar wallaby^[20]
• Tasmanian devil
• Tibetan macaque^[108]
• Tasmanian rat kangaroo^[20]
• Thinhorn sheep^[17]
• Thomson's gazelle^[51]
• Tiger^[109]
• Tonkean macaque^[22]
• Tucuxi^[110]
• Urial^[111]
• Ursine colobus^[112]
• Vampire bat^[30]
• Verreaux's sifaka^[113]
• Vervet
• Vicuna^[114]
• Walrus^{[115] [116]}
• Wapiti^[117]
• Warthog^[118]
• Waterbuck^[119]
• Water buffalo^[17]
• Weeper capuchin^[29]
• Western grey kangaroo^[20]
• West Indian manatee^[120]
• Whiptail wallaby^[20]
• White-faced capuchin^[29]
• White-fronted capuchin^[29]
• White-handed gibbon^[121]
• White-lipped peccary^[122]
• White-tailed deer^[16]
• Wild cavy^[27]
• Wild goat^[17]
• Yellow-bellied marmot^[123]
• Yellow-footed rock wallaby^[20]
• Yellow-toothed cavy^[27]

See also

• • • List of birds displaying homosexual behavior

Notes and References

1. Bagemihl (1999)
2. News-medical.net (2006)
3. Bagemihl (1999) page 213
4. Harrold (1999)
5. Solimeo (2004)
6. Solimeo (2004b)
7. Bagemihl (1999) pages 122-166
8. Roughgarden (2004) pp.13-183
9. Vasey (1995) pages 173-204
10. Sommer & Vasey (2006)
11. Bagemihl (1999) page 413
12. Imaginova (2007b)
13. Bagemihl (1999) page 432
14. Bagemihl (1999) pages 405, 690
15. Bagemihl (1999) page 367
16. Bagemihl (1999) page 378
17. Bagemihl (1999) page 405
18. Bagemihl (1999) pages 209, 408, 690
19. Bagemihl (1999) page 402
20. Bagemihl (1999) page 449
21. Homosexual Fellatio: Erect Penis Licking between Male Bonin Flying Foxes Pteropus pselaphon. Norimasa Sugita. 2016. 10.1371/journal.pone.0166024. 27824953. 5100941. 11. 11. e0166024. PLoS One. 2016PLoSO..1166024S. free.
22. Bagemihl (1999) page 316
23. de Waal (2001)
24. Liggett (1997–2006)
25. Imaginova (2007j)
26. Imaginova (2007c)
27. Bagemihl (1999) page 467
28. Bagemihl (1999) page 441
29. Bagemihl (1999) page 334
30. Bagemihl (1999) page 473
31. Bagemihl (1999) page 469
32. Bagemihl (1999) pages 388,389
33. Bagemihl (1999) pages 81, 88
34. Bagemihl (1999) pages 81, 82, 89
35. Poiani (2010) page 52
36. Bagemihl (1999) pages 276–279. Excerpt from the book: Common Chimpanzees engage in full mouth-to-mouth contact[...] Oral sex of various kinds also occurs in a number of species[, for example] cunnilingus in Common Chimpanzees[...] In [...] Common Chimpanzees, individuals often rub their anal and genital regions together[...] Other [...] forms of "manual" stimulation include [...] anal stimulation and penetration with fingers by male Common Chimpanzees.
37. Poiani (2010) page 51
38. Bagemihl (1999) pages 422–425
39. Bagemihl (1999) page 457
40. Bagemihl (1999) page 475
41. Bagemihl (1999) page 471
42. Bagemihl (1999) page 333
43. Bagemihl (1999) pages 310, 314
44. Poiani (2010) page 170
45. Bagemihl (1999) page 376
46. Bagemihl (1999) pages 447–448
47. [Thierry Lodé]
48. Bagemihl (1999) pages 458–460
49. Bagemihl (1999) pages 218, 231, 317
50. Non-conceptive sexual behavior and its function in an unusually composed group of Francois langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi) in Guangxi, China. Chengming Huang. etal. Vietnamese Journal of Primatology. 2015. 2. 3. 29–38.
51. Bagemihl (1999) page 391
52. Bagemihl (1999) pages 324–330
53. Bagemihl (1999) pages 299–301
54. Bagemihl (1999) pages 280–284
55. 1987. Intra- and inter-group interactions of an all-male group of virunga mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei). Juichi Yamagiwa. 10.1007/BF02382180. 1–30. 1. 28. Primates. 24667667.
56. Bagemihl (1999) pages 461–464
57. Bagemihl (1999) pages 231, 436–440
58. Bagemihl (1999) pages 293–298
59. Bagemihl (1999) page 347
60. Bagemihl (1999) page 412
61. Bagemihl (1999) page 465-466
62. Bagemihl (1999) pages 81, 165, 205, 226, 231
63. An observation of sexual behavior between two male humpback whales. Stephanie H. Stack. Lyle Krannichfeld. Brandi Romano. Marine Mammal Science. 2024. 10.1111/mms.13119. free.
64. Bagemihl (1999) page 386
65. Bagemihl (1999) page 430
66. Bagemihl (1999) page 422-425
67. Feige, Stacey, et al. "Heterosexual and homosexual behaviour and vocalisations in captive female koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)." Applied Animal Behaviour Science 103.1-2 (2007): 131-145.
68. Bagemihl (1999) page 455-457
69. Bagemihl (1999) page 397-401
70. Bagemihl (1999) page 336-338
71. Bagemihl (1999) pages 302–305.
72. Cooper
73. Eaton (1974)
74. Schaller, (1972)
75. Srivastav (2001)
76. Bagemihl (1999) pages 470–472
77. Imaginova (2007)
78. Bagemihl (1999) page 409
79. Bagemihl (1999) page 448
80. Jia, Z. Y., et al. "Effects of number of homosexual partners on copulating date in female captive masked palm civets (Paguma larvata), and fluctuation of urine estrogen during breeding season." Acta Zoologica Sinica 48 (2002): 610-616.
81. Bagemihl (1999) pages 109, 469
82. Bagemihl (1999) pages 387–390
83. Bagemihl (1999) pages 418–421
84. Bagemihl (1999) pages 663, 693, 714
85. Bagemihl (1999) pages 410–413
86. Bagemihl (1999) page 472
87. Bagemihl (1999) pages 465–466
88. Bagemihl (1999) pages 284–288
89. Homosexual behavior in wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii). 2001. 55. 3. 177–81. Am J Primatol. EA Fox. 10.1002/ajp.1051. 11746281. 21561581.
90. Bagemihl (1999) page 328
91. Bagemihl (1999) pages 81, 82, 225–226, 232–240
92. Bagemihl (1999) page 418-421
93. Bagemihl (1999) pages 394–396
94. Bagemihl (1999) pages 397–401
95. Bagemihl (1999) page 451
96. Bagemihl (1999) page 81
97. Bagemihl (1999) page 440
98. Bagemihl (1999) pages 437–441
99. Bagemihl (1999) pages 453–455
100. Bagemihl (1999) pages 364–365
101. Roselli(2004), Vol. 145, No. 2, pages 478–483
102. Bagemihl (1999) pages 289–292
103. Do same-sex mounts function as dominance assertion in male golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana)?. Pengzhen Huang. Xin He. Endi Zhang. Min Chen. 10.1002/ajp.22636. 28103402. Am J Primatol. 79. 5. e22636. 2017. 3875410.
104. Homosexual Behavior Between Male Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Arch Sex Behav. 47. 4. 857–861. 2018. 10.1007/s10508-018-1177-8. 29536259. Laura Busia. 3855790. etal.
105. Forger(6 December 1998), Volume 375, Issue 2, Pages 333 – 343
106. Bagemihl (1999) pages 330–335
107. Bagemihl (1999) page 459
108. Jiang, T., Li, J., Sheeran, L. K., Zhu, Y., Sun, B., Xia, D., & Wang, X. . 2013 . Homosexual mounting in wild male Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Huangshan, China . Life Science Journal . 10 . 1 .
109. Sommer (2006)
110. Bagemihl (1999) page 340
111. Bagemihl (1999) pages 405–409
112. Non-Reproductive Sexual Behavior in Wild White-Thighed Colobus Monkeys (Colobus vellerosus). 10.1007/s10508-023-02561-2. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2023. Julie A. Teichroeb. 52 . 6 . 2295–2301 . 36849676 . 257231173 . etal.
113. Bagemihl (1999) pages 366–368
114. Bagemihl (1999) pages 425–426
115. Bagemihl (1999) pages 370–374
116. Imaginova (2007g)
117. Bagemihl (1999) page 231
118. Bagemihl (1999) page 421
119. Bagemihl (1999) pages 397–400
120. Bagemihl (1999) pages 374–377
121. Bagemihl (1999) pages 288–290
122. Bagemihl (1999) page 424
123. Poiani (2010) page 50