Same-sex behaviour benefits a species as a whole: Yale Study

While the conservatives may blame same-sex behaviour for threatening the survival of the human species, the religious for various issues, research speaks otherwise. A Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies has published a research study that states that same-sex pairs actually benefit a species, rather than threatening it.

The research states that according to the study, same-sex behaviour is actually intrinsic to evolution. Until now, different-sex behaviour was being considered as the baseline for sexual behaviour in animals.

The research states that terms used for humans such as homosexual or heterosexual should not be used for animals. A general assumption about same-sex behaviour was that it is counter-productive to reproduction, but the study found that there is no practical evidence to back this assumption.

The researchers claim that same-sex behaviour has little or no effect on evolutionary patterns of species. In over 1,500 species examined by the study they found that same-sex behaviour is actually common. They called it a "bedrock of life."

The phenomenon was found to be common across different evolutionary branches of the same species. If a different sex behaviour is replicated and indiscriminate mating is done, it can actually threaten the survival of a species due to a lack of resources. During periods of sparse resources, same-sex behaviour can ensure the continuing propagation of the species.

"Scientists have found that male burying beetles engage in increased same-sex behaviour when they perceive a higher cost of missed mating opportunities with females. This suggests that engaging with different-sex behaviours exclusively is actually disadvantageous because it reduces chances to display mating potential when mating opportunities are rare," the study states.

All assumptions about same-sex behaviour, the researchers say, can be easily countered. They state that data and research on such behaviour is sparse and most assumptions are done on unscientific basis.

"But other evidence is slim, largely because scientists haven't systematically studied same-sex sexual behaviour in animals. Most observations have been accidental, and biologists have often viewed sex between two animals of the same sex as irrelevant or improper to note, Monk said. Sometimes, researchers automatically assume that same-sex behaviour isn't really about sex but instead is about dominance or bonding. And often, if two animals are observed having sex, they're assumed to be male and female without any confirmatory evidence. The science that we do is really informed and influenced by cultural biases," Caitlin McDonough, lead author of the study stated.

The research goes against set notions about same-sex behaviour. It remains to be seen if contrary evidence is found or we change our established notions about such behaviour.