Homosexual Behavior Between Male Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Primate Behavior and Ecology
Publication Date
3-2018
Abstract
Homosexual behavior is defined as genital contact or genital manipulation between same-sex individuals. In nonhuman primates, it may regulate social relationships by serving as a means of reconciliation, tension alleviation, or alliance formation. Grappling is a rare and complex behavior, which most frequently occurs between same-sex individuals of the genus Ateles and can include mutual manipulation of the genitalia. Here we report three cases of penile–anal intromission during grappling between wild male spider monkeys living in the natural protected area of Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh, Mexico. In all the observed cases, the same adult male was the actor. To our knowledge, this is the first report of penile–anal intromission between males in any New World primate species.
Recommended Citation
Busia, L., Denice, A. R., Aureli, F., & Schaffner, C. M. (2018). Homosexual Behavior Between Male Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(4), 857–861. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1177-8
Journal
Archives of Sexual Behavior
Rights
Copyright © 2018, Springer Science Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
Comments
This article was originally published in Archives of Sexual Behavior. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.
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