Animal Sex: News and Features

A never-before-heard clicking from female frogs while mating prompts males to perform.

Yes, orgies of trilobites caught in the act.

Just like in humans, sex is a social tool for bonobos.

Just a touch of the chemical and squid went from swimming calmly to fin beating and forward lunging.

The strategy gives them a threefold advantage of becoming spider daddies.

Female cane toads inflate their bodies to thwart sex. These inflatable toads can decide the father in this strange animal sex act.

Male topi antelopes keep a mate around by snorting deceptively, a pretense that makes her think leaving him will bring her face-to-face with danger.

Buffalos in South Africa appear to give birth to more males during the rainy season, and scientists think certain genes are responsible

Female crayfish release urine to attract mates. But the aphrodisiac confuses males, that use it as a sign of violence.

Promiscuous female files may help save their populations from extinction, a new study suggests.

Velcro-like spikes on the genitals of male fruit flies help them hold onto females during sex.

Female ducks have oddly shaped vaginas to keep out unwanted males.

The role pheromones play in the mating game may have more to do with repelling than attracting, a new study suggests.

The sperm of one male may have to compete with those from another. How and why they do it is surprising.

How did sex evolve? It might have all been a reaction to parasites.

Fossil evidence suggests a tiny, ancient crustacean used sperm for mating.

Animals obviously hook up, at least during mating season. But do they like it? According to experts, there are two answers: yes, and it is impossible to know.