Animal Sex: News and Features

From an evolutionary and biological perspective, animals are driven to have sex in order to procreate. But there is a lot more to sexual relations between animals. Animal sex is at least as strange and varied as human sex. A male might copulate with many females. And female animals of many species can be choosy, too. Homosexuality is common. Monogamy is rare. And the animal kingdom is full of swingers. In short, with animals, sex can be wild.

Related Topics: Biodiversity, Extinction, Newfound Species, Wildlife

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A grey bird with a long neck and long legs bends over backward in a mating dance on a yellow-grassy plain.

Strange love: 13 animals with truly weird courtship rituals

By Mindy Weisberger published

For Valentine's Day, Live Science gathers together some of the more extravagant and outlandish courtship rituals in the animal kingdom.

A male giraffe begins the lip-curling flehmen behavior as the female begins to urinate.

Giraffe sex is even weirder than we thought, and it involves pee

By Tom Metcalfe published

Giraffes don't go into heat, don't have a breeding season and don't make mating calls. So how do giraffes know when it's the right time for love?

white birds dancing on snow

Animal sex: How birds do it

By Elizabeth Peterson published

Birds have sex via an internal chamber called a cloaca that is present on both male and female animals.

Mating makes these male spiders jump, but not for joy.

These male spiders use built-in leg catapults to escape sexual cannibalism

By Mindy Weisberger published

Once mating is over, male orb-weavers catapult off the bodies of females to avoid being eaten, moving at a speed that's too fast to glimpse with the naked eye.

Conceptual image of sperm

Why do some animals have sperm 20 times the length of their bodies?

By Cameron Duke published

Sperm come in tons of sizes, and it all has to do with how they have to find the egg.

A mouse plague in Aragon, Spain.

An 'absolute plague' of mice is ravaging eastern Australia

By Brandon Specktor published

A productive grain harvest has resulted in a 'plague' of mice rampaging through Australia, and locals are sick of cleaning up their poo.

The giant coconut crab (Birgus latro) is the biggest terrestrial crab in the world.

Seabird-eating 'monster' crabs are chatty during sex

By Mindy Weisberger published

Enormous and powerful coconut crabs are known for their extreme size. They also have an unexpectedly diverse "vocabulary."

two male lion brothers snuggling

Was Same-Sex Behavior Hardwired in Animals from the Beginning?

By Stephanie Pappas published

Same-sex sexual behavior might have started out on an equal footing with different-sex sex.

One of Mary's offspring is pictured as an adult.

This Fish Just Gave Evolution the Finger and Got Pregnant

By Rafi Letzter published

Mary's species of fish never evolved to have sex or incubate live young. She did it anyway.

Meerkats Kissing

Animal Sex: How Meerkats Do It

By Joseph Castro published

Meerkats are anything but meek — including when it comes to their mating behaviors.

Portrait of a red-eared slider turtle.

Animal Sex: How Red-Eared Sliders Do It

By Joseph Castro published

Red-eared slider reproduction involves large claws, extra-long penises and numbers of eggs.

A western toad (Anaxyrus boreas halophilus) sticking it's head out of pond.

Animal Sex: How Western Toads Do It

By Joseph Castro published

Western toad sex involves quiet searches, mating balls and streams of eggs.

A pod of narwhals.

Animal Sex: How Narwhals Do It

By Joseph Castro published

Little is known about the mating behaviors of arctic-loving narwhals, also called the unicorns of the sea.

The female dragonfly crashes to the ground and plays dead to avoid unwelcome advances.

Female Dragonflies Play Dead to Escape Stalking Males

By Richa Malhotra published

Female dragonflies say no to sex by faking their deaths, new research has found.

American lobster, Homarus americanus, in front of white background.

Animal Sex: How Lobsters Do It

By Joseph Castro published

Lobster sex involves battles for dominance, calming urine and tender copulation.

A common bed bug (Cimex lectularius)

Animal Sex: How Bed Bugs Do It

By Joseph Castro published

The cringe-worthy sexual behaviors of bed bugs involve traumatic insemination, no courtship activities and, sometimes, incest.

Hummingbird mates in flight.

Animal Sex: How Hummingbirds Do It

By Joseph Castro published

Hummingbird mating involves using specialized courtship rituals, tail feathers that sing, and weaponized beaks.

orangutan-tablet

Dutch Zoo Tests 'Tinder for Orangutans' Mating Program

By Kacey Deamer published

It's not as simple as asking an orangutan to swipe right or left.

Feral baby chickens crossing a road with their mother on Kauai, Hawaii.

Year of the Rooster: How Kauai's Feral Chickens Do It

By Joseph Castro published

Chicken mating involves tidbitting, wing-flapping, a male waltz and the possibility of the female ejecting the male's sperm.

Doe! Deer and Macaque Caught Monkeying Around

By Mindy Weisberger published

A monkey was recently seen performing sexual actions on the backs of female sika deer on Japan's Yakushima island.