sex on the brain (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, March 05, 2016, 15:08 (3184 days ago)

"Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it, Let's fall in love". From an old popular song. Evolution sure gave us a strong sex drive:-https://www.newscientist.com/article/2079152-male-sand-martin-birds-filmed-having-sex-with-a-dead-male/-"In 2014, Naoki Tomita and Yasuko Iwami at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology in Abiko saw a dead sand martin by the roadside. As they filmed, three males repeatedly mounted it. After 15 minutes, the researchers collected the body and identified it was a male. They have now published an article describing the incident - only the second paper describing such behaviour in birds (Ornithological Science, doi.org/bctv).-"At least 30 cases of necrophilia have been reported in birds. Homosexual behaviour is common in birds, but in this case it was probably due to mistaken identity, as male and female sand martins look the same.-"Tomita and Iwami think the event they witnessed occurred because the dead bird happened to end up in a pose resembling the female mating position. “We suggest that posture is an important trigger arousing male sex drive,” they write."-Comment: More evidence for common descent. Pun intended.