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Re: ping: kea

Posted by kea on 2006-May-18 08:36:41 EDT, Thursday
In reply to ping: kea posted by madpenguin on 2006-May-17 04:37:07 EDT, Wednesday

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i really don't have ready access to most of my research material at the moment. if you look at some of the contributions in Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions (Jay R. Feierman ed., Springer-Verlag 1990) you'll get an idea of the kind of examples that can be raised.

examples of animal behaviour that has obvious correlates w/ crossgenerational sexual behaviour in humans abounds. among mammals, sexual presenting (lordosis) directed to male adults by female juveniles is commonly observed & is interpreted as a submissive display. it is echoed by male subdominants, both adult & juvenile.

one paper i am looking at which i do have on hand, & had in mind when i made that comment, is
Anim Behav. 2000 Apr;59(4):801-806.
Why some male Mongolian gerbils may help at the nest: testosterone, asexuality and alloparenting.

Clark MM, Galef BG Jr. (Department of Psychology, McMaster University)

In previous studies we have shown that those male Mongolian gerbils, Meriones unguiculatus, that as fetuses resided in intrauterine positions (IUPs) located between two female fetuses (2F males) have lower circulating levels of testosterone, less well-developed genital musculature, and lower reproductive success than males gestated in IUPs between two male fetuses (2M males). We have also found that such 2F males spend more time caring for conspecific young than do 2M males, and that presence of a 2F male, but not of a 2M male, with a lactating female and her litter decreases the cost to a dam of suckling one litter while gestating a second litter conceived in postpartum oestrus. Here we show that some 2F males, those with circulating levels of testosterone similar to those seen in females of their species, show no interest in females in oestrus and fail to impregnate females with which they are paired. Such 'asexual' 2F males spend 30-50% more time caring for nestlings than do sexually active 2F males. We suggest that such asexual, highly parental 2F males are incapable of direct reproduction and are obligate helpers at the nest that can contribute to their own fitness only by assisting to rear collateral kin. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.





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