A Little Gay Natural History

About this book

A Little Gay Natural History is a celebration of the astonishing diversity of sexual behaviour, biology and reproduction found in nature. From penguins to primates, same-sex behaviours and courtship are more widespread in the natural world than many people realize, while how nature organises sex is not always as straightforward as usually thought.

Davis considers how, in many different organisms – both animals and plants – sexual reproduction and determination rely on a surprisingly complex interaction between genes, hormones, environment and chance. We meet turtles whose sex is determined by the incubation temperature of their eggs and butterflies that embody male and female biological tissue in the same organism.

He also reveals animal and plant behaviours in nature that have previously either been covered up or explained away, and presents animal behaviours that challenge us to rethink our assumptions and prejudices.

Contents

Introduction

Adélie penguin: Homosexual couples
Mangrove killifish: Reproducing with itself
Duck-billed dinosaur: Bias in names
New Mexico whiptail lizard: Parthenogenesis
Morpho butterfly: Divided down the middle
Western lowland gorilla: Queer behaviour in apes
Domestic sheep: Can animals be gay?
Saharan cypress: Androgenesis
Bicolour parrotfish: Sex-fluid fishes
Swans: Male couples as parents
Green sea turtle: Temperature-dependent sex determination
Giraffe: Homosexuality in the mainstream
Common ash: Sexual spectrum
Common cockchafer: Historical homosexuality
European yew: Sex change
European eel: Environment-dependent sex determination
White-throated sparrow: Beyond the binary
Spotted hyena: Female-led societies
Western gull: Lesbian mothers
Common bottlenose dolphin: Explaining the gay away
Common pill woodlouse: Bacteria-dependent sex determination
Bluegill sunfish: Do animals have gender?
Common pheasant: Out-sized influence
Splitgill mushroom: Thousands of sexes
Chinese shell ginger: Temporal sex
Cane toad: Intersex animals
Moss mites: Ancient asexuals
Dungowan bush tomato: Changeable sex
Barklice: Sex-reversed genitals

Index
Further reading
References
Picture credits

Customer Reviews

Biography

Josh Davis is a science writer for the Natural History Museum, London, with a background in biology and conservation. As a freelance science writer, he has been published by newspapers such as the Observer, the
Guardian and The Times.