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Abstract
Same-sex sexual behaviour has attracted the attention of many scientists working in disparate areas, from sociology and psychology to behavioural and evolutionary biology. Since it does not contribute directly to reproduction, same-sex sexual behaviour is considered an evolutionary conundrum. Here, using phylogenetic analyses, we explore the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals. According to currently available data, this behaviour is not randomly distributed across mammal lineages, but tends to be particularly prevalent in some clades, especially primates. Ancestral reconstruction suggests that same-sex sexual behaviour may have evolved multiple times, with its appearance being a recent phenomenon in most mammalian lineages. Our phylogenetically informed analyses testing for associations between same-sex sexual behaviour and other species characteristics suggest that it may play an adaptive role in maintaining social relationships and mitigating conflict.
There is still no consensus on the factors favouring the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals. This study presents evidence that it is a widespread behaviour that has evolved repeatedly in mammals, and that may play an adaptive role in bonding and conflict resolution.
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1 Dpto de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA-CSIC), Almería, Spain (GRID:grid.466639.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 0547 1725); Universidad de Granada, Research Unit Modeling Nature (MNat), Facultad de Ciencias, Granada, Spain (GRID:grid.4489.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 2167 8994)
2 Universidad de Granada, Research Unit Modeling Nature (MNat), Facultad de Ciencias, Granada, Spain (GRID:grid.4489.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 2167 8994); Universidad de Granada, Dpto de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Granada, Spain (GRID:grid.4489.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 2167 8994)
3 Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CSIC-UV-GV), Valencia, Spain (GRID:grid.4489.1)