Sex! Love! Writing! (I just got tired of the old subject line)--> One reporter reacts to JKR's revelations

[susanmcgee48176]

> 
> Amanda now:
> 
> Not to muddy the waters, but life-long exclusive pairings of any 
kind are
> comparatively rare, except in a few species. When you include other 
species,
> you have to recognize the distinction---which nobody seems to be 
making
> here---between love (enjoying the company of) and sex (physical 
act).  Other
> species generally have sex to reproduce, and pair-bonds of whatever 
duration
> are usually temporary to further that end.  Pair-bonding for the 
enjoyment
> of company is not unheard of, but doesn't usually involve sex. 
> 
> Because human behavior has such a strong cultural component, I 
don't think
> you can look to other species. Unless you want to start looking at 
humans
> from a primatologist's point of view, which can show certain 
adaptive
> advantages to various non-reproductive sexual behaviors, both homo- 
and
> hetero-sexual. And which points up life-long exclusive same-sex 
couples as
> pretty clearly cultural and not a species behavior.
> 
So, Amanda, this is not really my area of expertise, is this not 
accurate? (oh, but a more careful reading of your post states that 
life long pairings in any species are rare, not non-existent)..and 
your use of the word usually or rarely...

Same-Sex Pair Bonding in Animals
Just as in humans, animals often form long-term same-sex 
relationships. In species in which this normally occurs in 
heterosexual couples, that shouldn't come as a great surprise, but it 
does come as a surprise in species where heterosexual pair-bonds 
don't normally form for long if at all. This is true of bottlenose 
dolphins, which are not known to form heterosexual pair bonds, but 
which do in fact form homosexual pair bonds, including sex, and often 
lasting for life.
In animals in which "bachelor groups" form, such as bison, gazelles, 
antelope, sage grouse and Guinean cocks-of-the-rock, it is not 
uncommon for same sex pair bonds to form and last until one or the 
other member of the pair departs the relationship and breeds. It is 
also not uncommon for homosexual preference to form among members of 
such bachelor groups; when offered the opportunity to breed 
unencumbered with members of the opposite sex or the same sex, they 
choose the same sex.

The human pattern of bisexuality also appears in animals. In some 
cases, animals prefer same sex at one point in their lives, and 
change preference later. They may even change back and forth. In some 
cases, animals may seek sex with partners of either sex at random.

In animals with a seasonal breeding pattern, homosexuality can even 
be seasonal. Male walruses, for example, often form homosexual pair 
bonds and have sex with each other outside of the breeding season, 
but will revert to a heterosexual pattern during the normal breeding 
season.


Not At All Unusual
Lest you are tempted to believe that all of this is highly unusual 
and well out of the ordinary, you're in for quite a surprise. 
Homosexual behavior is not only common, but even more common in other 
species than in humans. While numbers are hard to come by, there are 
a few that present some interesting patterns. In ostriches, male 
homosexuality is much more common than bisexuality, but among mule 
deer, bisexuality is more common than homosexuality. Among our 
closest living relatives, the bonobo chimpanzees, few if any are 
either exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. Indeed, all that have 
been observed are exclusively permanently bisexual.
As for numbers, here are a few:


species                % homosexual  % bisexual % heterosexual  
silver gulls (females)           10         11            79  
black headed gulls (both sexes)  22         15            63  
Japanese macaques (both sexes)    9         56            35  
bonobo chimpanzees (both sexes)  0         100             0  
galahs (both sexes)              44         11            44  
source: Bruce Bahemihl, Ph.D., Biological Exhuberance: Animal 
Homosexuality and Natural Diversity, St. Martin's Press, 2000, page 
35  



Susan