Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Birds gone wild: same-sex parenting in albatross

2008; Elsevier BV; Volume: 23; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.tree.2008.08.004

1872-8383

Marlene Zuk, Nathan W. Bailey,

Primate Behavior and Ecology

Same-sex behavior in animals fascinates scientists as well as laypeople, partly because of implications about sexual orientation in humans. After all, if animals engage in homosexuality, can it be dismissed as ‘unnatural’? A recent paper by Young and colleagues documents long-term female pairs in >30% of Laysan albatross on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The unrelated females bred successfully, challenging ideas about cooperative breeding, alternative reproductive strategies and perhaps even the evolution of sexual orientation. Same-sex behavior in animals fascinates scientists as well as laypeople, partly because of implications about sexual orientation in humans. After all, if animals engage in homosexuality, can it be dismissed as ‘unnatural’? A recent paper by Young and colleagues documents long-term female pairs in >30% of Laysan albatross on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The unrelated females bred successfully, challenging ideas about cooperative breeding, alternative reproductive strategies and perhaps even the evolution of sexual orientation.